Broken Waltz
by Converse r life
Summary: Harmony choose what life she wanted to live in...but has she made the right choice? Sequel to my other story 'Just a Sonata Away'.
1. Chapter 1

".....and then we found this really cool sunken ship and it was so awesome!" The girl finished up her story, as her parents looked at each other with smiles.

"It sounds wonderful Melody. What did you do all day sweetheart?" The question was directed at the other girl at the table who was sitting quietly, as if in a daze of sorts. Her eyes were out of focus, her expression almost dreamy as a smile crept onto her lips just thinking about it.

Her parents looked at each other musingly at this, as the mother reached out to just lightly tap her daughter's arm. The girl, startled out of her day dream, slowly turned her head up to look at her parents, as their most frequent question played back in her mind. Her smile vanished, as her face became blank as a new sheet of paper, portraying nothing of her most recent thoughts and how she was still dreaming about it. They were trying to make her feel as though she was 'a part' of the family, make her spill her feelings and say how she felt all day, all week.....but she wouldn't.

"Oh you know." She said with a dismissive wave of the hand, before letting her shoulders sag. "In the morning I had a few suicide attempts but they didn't work out really well, and in the afternoon I cut my arms still I felt no blood in them." Harmony said in a sweet voice, as her parents eyes grew the size of saucers as they weren't very pleased with her joke, and her sister looked as though she'd swallowed a fish.

"That's not funny Harmony." Ariel admonished, as her daughter rolled her eyes. It seemed that's all she did these days. Play the piano, roll her eyes, and offer sarcastic comments just to be a bitch.

"It's funny if you have a sick sense of humor, like me." Harmony retorted, before pushing her chair back and jumping out of it. "I'm going to my room, 'k? Call me if you need me....but don't need me." She said in that sarcastic voice again, and before her parents could argue, she was off to the piano, knowing that at only 6:30 it was a long time before she'd get to sleep.

As she sat on the piano bench, one song for some reason popped up into her head. Lucky, by Britney Spears. When she was younger she had just liked the beat of that song, never actually listening to the lyrics. Now older she listened as the song played in her head, like a small hum from a bee.

Questions in her head started to pop up as the song finished then. Why did Lucky cry at night? Did she feel trapped like _she_ did? Did she feel suffocated like _she _did? Or was it just that no one understood? Sadly, she shook her head, knowing what Lucky felt now. Softly, so soft that she knew no one but her could hear, she sang what she remembered out that song.

_Early morning  
She wakes up  
Knock, knock, knock on the door_

_It's time for makeup  
Perfect smile  
It's you they're all waiting for_

_Isn't she lovely  
This Hollywood girl_

_And they say..  
She's so Lucky  
She's a star  
But she cry, cry, cries in her lonely heart  
Thinking, if there's nothing missing in my life  
Then why do these tears come at night?_

_Lost in an image, in a dream  
But there's no one there to wake her up  
And the world is spinning and she keeps on winning  
But tell me, what happens when it stops_

_Isn't she lovely?  
This Hollywood girl_

_She's soo lucky  
But why does she cry?  
If there is nothing missing in her life  
Why do tears come at night?_

_And they say...  
She's so lucky,  
She's a star  
But she cry, cry, cries in her lonely heart  
Thinking, if there's nothing missing in my life  
Then why do these tears come at night?_

Lucky wasn't just some girl in a song, Lucky was **her**. Everything was perfect. She was a princess, she lived by the sea, and she had parents who trusted her to do things when she wanted without questions.....then why did she cry when no one was around? Why did she continue to slash at the skin in her arm after she promised she wouldn't anymore? Why did she still feel overwhelming guilt for what she's done? Why was she haunted by this in her dreams?

She'd chosen what world she wanted to be in, her princess life....but had she made the wrong choice?

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**Yay! Sequel time! The song, Lucky is by as you saw Britney Spears, so sadly i don't own any of it. I don't know what direction this story is going to go, i'm just going to write and let it flow out like the last one, so don't get mad at me, okay? **

**REVIEW! **


	2. Chapter 2

"That's a wonderful song." Ariel murmured to her daughter, as the girl swirled in the piano bench to stare at the woman. "Is it an original?" She was going to get through to this girl, if it was the last thing she did. Harmony rolled her eyes and turned back on the piano, letting her fingers drum the key's as she ignored Ariel completely. Ariel sucked in a breath and tried again.

"Harmony, I know it was difficult to choose what world you wanted to live in, but you can always talk to me if you want. I'll always listen." Ariel said with sincerity as her daughter turned around again to stare at her, and then a hard bitter laugh rose from her throat.

"You want me to spill my feelings, right? So then you can say 'everything will be alright'. It won't damn it, it just won't! Nothing is 'alright'; nothing will ever _be_ 'alright'!" Harmony said, close to tears as she fumed. Already angry, she stormed away from Ariel and to the beach, hoping that she wouldn't be followed.

Ariel sighed heavily as she looked at her daughter walking away. The girl had both her casts taken off already, and her broken ribs were healed, yet she was just so....distant? What was it about her lately? No one had forced her to choose what world she wanted to live in, so what was it?

"Harmony what do you miss most about your other world?" Melody questioned as she sat on the sand with her sister, the sun setting in front of them. Harmony sat idly, doing nothing, not speaking, barely blinking, and her breathing was coming out ragged as she bit her lip and tried to think about it.

"The thing I miss most is....I think school." Harmony said, in a voice softer and quieter than the wind. Melody's brows furrowed at the answer, but then she just shrugged and leaned back on the sand, letting the cool fall air and sun mix onto her already burned skin.

"I thought you said you hated school." Melody said to her sister's answer, as she closed her eyes and relaxed a little.

"I hate going to classes. But school is where all your friends are, where you socialize in between classes or during lunch. And at school, you know where you stand with everyone. You know who'll be your best friend, and who'll be the back stabbing bitch who'll tell of your secrets." Harmony answered, not bothering to lie down as she let her head loll to the side and watch the sunset. Melody on the other hand, sat up on her elbows and looked at her sister, annoyed.

"I said I was sorry for that already, what more do you want?" Melody's clear annoyed voice asked, as Harmony sighed and she felt the sand in between her fingers. But before she could answer, she heard voices in the distance and realized whose voices they were, since they were at the rocks more towards the end of the beach, far from the castle. And as the voices came closer, Harmony shut her eyes lightly, wishing for them to go away.

"So _Harmony_, ready for round two of the kiss you never finished?" A voice that Harmony knew all too well asked, as she opened her eyes to see Alec and his 'friends' surrounding her and Melody.

"Get lost loser." Harmony said loudly, as hard laughter followed. Melody looked worried as she fidgeted, gulping because she was scared of how this would turn out.

"Now that's not very nice is it?" Alec mused, coming up close to the princess so she could basically feel his hot breath on her face. She didn't blink, she didn't wince, she just waited for the right timing, like her brother had taught her. "Besides, you weren't like this with those other boys...." Alec whispered as his lips started to dip down onto the princess's lips. When he was barely a millimeter away from her lips she clenched her fist tightly, took in a breath, closed her eyes, and felt her fist connect with something hard.

Opening her eyes back up, she saw his nose was gushing blood, and he had his hand under it, yelling loudly at the pain. Satisfied with her work, silently Harmony got up and grabbed a shocked Melody's arm as she started to walk away, leaving Alec and his goons behind to deal with the blood. But their path was blocked by Alec's friends, who stood there with arms crossed, eyes narrowed at the princess.

"I think you owe an apology." The bigger one said, as Harmony, still silent looked him up to down before she tried to walk past them, because she didn't want to get into a fight.

"Hold up _princess_." One of the smaller boys sneered, grabbing her arm. She narrowed her eyes at the pip squeak but kept her head high, refusing to be the first one to initiate a fight, unless it was for self defense. "Don't sluts do things, _naughty_ things?" The boy asked, as Harmony pressed her lips together tightly, and looked back at a extremely worried and scared Melody.

"Take your arm off of me." Harmony said in a tightly controlled voice, not willing to show how much his tight grip hurt. Yes she could be punched by her brother, but then a minute later they were watching T.V. as though nothing had ever happened.

"What, don't girls like you do things to boys? Come here for a kiss." Another one of the boys said as he smashed his lips against Harmony's. The girl was filled with festering rage, so she kneed him as hard as she could, which wasn't very hard. The boy only lost his footing, and he cursed under his breath, something about princess and kiss.

"We're getting tired of your games princess." The last boy in the group finally hissed as he came up close to the girl, but she only pushed him back and Melody out of the tight circle around her. The girl fell to the sand with an oomph, but she refused to leave her sister as she tried to get back into the tight circle that had formed around her.

"That's it. Get her!" Alec cried out, the blood from his nose all over his shirt, as the boys were on top of Harmony. She felt them punching her, and she tried her best to kick her way away from them. _Their boys_, her mind told her, _boys_. That's when she knew how to get away.

Since she was still on the floor, covering her face as best she could, she let her eyes travel to the boys pants, and with a small smirk, she kicked one of them so hard in his groin that he fell back, shocked and in pain. The other boys quickly surrounded him, and Harmony used that opportunity to stand up, grab Melody's hand, and run the hell away.

Once she and Melody were far from the boys and almost to the castle, Harmony finally spoke, spitting out the blood from her mouth. Her answer was barely above a whisper, but it held that wistfulness and anger that somehow went perfectly together. Balanced, in harmony, as one could say.

"I want that to stop."

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**Okay, so the line at the end is the answer when Melody ask's her 'What more do you want?' So how'd ya like it? Any comments, questions, constructive critiscim, reviews, you know the drill.**


	3. Chapter 3

"Where have you two been?! We were so worried---Harmony, honey, why do you have a black eye?" Ariel questioned, as she took in her daughter's shattered appearance. A bloody lip, her face full of black and purple bruises....what had happened?!

"I fell." Harmony lied smoothly, as Ariel snorted at the answer and sat her daughter in a chair as she pressed an ice pack against her eye. The girl said nothing; quietly she slouched in the chair as Ariel had one hand pressing the ice against her eye, and the other cleaning up her bloody lip.

"Do you want to tell us the truth now?" Eric asked, his eyes trailing down the blood on her knuckles and the painful looking bruises all along her arms.

"Yeah, you see I was innocently sitting on the beach when a vampire attacked me because for some dumb reason he wanted my blood, and not Melody's. And then when the vampire was about to suck my blood werewolves came out and they wanted to eat me so them and the vampire got into a fight, and that's when I ran away because being eaten, or having my blood sucked doesn't sound like that much fun and while I was running I tripped over a magic wand and got this black eye." Harmony said in a normal tone of voice as she felt her mother take the ice pack off of her black eye to look at the swelling for a moment, and then sighed as she put it back on.

"Melody, what happened?" Ariel sighed, knowing that Harmony's story was false all the way through. The girl was a smooth liar, and if that story wasn't so absurd she might have actually believed it. At least they all knew Melody couldn't lie.

"Um...well...ah..." Melody stuttered for words as she saw Harmony shoot daggers at her, the glare so intense that it actually scared her quite a bit. Ariel saw this, and gave Harmony a hard look before turning back to Melody with a pleading one. "She got in a fight." Melody finally muttered, and both her parent's eyes went wide and then they turned to Harmony who was lazily brushing her fingers through her bangs to get them out of the way of her face.

"A fight?!" Ariel and Eric both stuttered, but Harmony continued to ignore them as she took her hand out of her bangs and started to blow upwards on them. He he, this was kind of fun!

"With who?" Eric asked calmly, breaking his stare off of Harmony, who, behind both her parents backs watched Melody and slowly drew a finger across her neck, mouthing the words 'Kill tonight.' Melody in turn grew afraid, not used to such jokes, and stuttered on the question again.

"I-I promised I-I wouldn't s-s-say." She gulped staring at Harmony. Her parents noticed this, but as they turned around quickly, the finger that had been sliding across her neck flew up to her hair, winding it on her finger, as she smiled sweetly.

"Please don't tell me you started this fight Harmony." Ariel asked, rubbing her temples as she could already feel a migraine coming on. This girl! She barely speaks, and when she does it's sarcasm, then she gets into a fight! Her father used to say she'd understand his parenting when she was a parent of a stubborn teen herself. Oh, now she definitely did.

"I don't start fights, I end them. The idiots freaking tried to kiss me because they thought I was a slut. I told them to back off, but they didn't. I broke one of their noses and kneed another one of them in a very uncomfortable spot for boys when they ganged up on me and started to hit me." Harmony said harshly as her parents frowns of disapproval now turned to sympathy as they looked to Melody for confirmation of the girl's words.

"Who did this to you though? There's no sense in protecting a bully." Ariel said as she took the ice pack off of her daughter's eye and looked at her bruised arms.

"There's a certain code kids live by. No matter how bad things are, you never rat out another kid." Harmony stated, as Ariel and Eric turned to Melody who, was apparently, long gone. Sigh.

"You're not going to tell us anything, are you?" Eric asked, and Harmony nodded, keeping her head high. Sighing Eric took another look at her bloody knuckles, that seemed to be the other boy's blood, and shook his head. "Go wash up and get to bed, alright?" He said as Harmony nodded and shrugged, jumping off the chair and going to her bathroom.

"I don't like where this is going Eric. She's been so...impossible lately and now _this_." Ariel sighed again, sitting on the chair and putting her arms up to rest her head on. Of all the things she'd imagined once Harmony came back home, she'd never thought that she'd be like this. She'd always thought the girl would be like Melody, fun loving, nice when she wanted to be, stubborn at times, nothing new. But this, where had _that _come from?!

"It's not like we can do anything about it. If we ground her, she'll find a way to escape, if we tell her she's not allowed to go to the sea for the next few days, she'll lock herself up in the library. If we take away all of that and her sketches, she'll just be a pain to live with. We can't win." Eric said, rubbing his temples as well, feeling a migraine coming on. Great, just great.

"Then what do we do?" Ariel asked in a soft voice, but the answer was yet to come to either parents.

"_Star light,_

_Star bright,_

_First star I see tonight,_

_I wish I may,_

_I wish I might,_

_Get the wish,_

_I wish tonight. _

I wish for....for....my happiness back." Harmony whispered into the still night, on her balcony. Her nightgown stirred around her legs against the cold wind, but she didn't care. She just wanted to _feel_ happiness again, wherever that might be.

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**Lovely how her story makes total sense, doesn't it? If you want more, there is a little button on the bottom of the page called REVIEW. If you press it, you can write what you think of this chapter! *Gasp* WOW! **


	4. Chapter 4

Harmony walked down the shore line, feeling as she always did these days; depressed. She missed her brother, his cocky, over confident smile. She missed the way he teased her, even when he punched her, the pain never felt as bad as this. The yearning she felt inside of her to see him again, at least tell him she was alright.

She missed him so badly though! The way he pushed her down when they were in a footrace, or how she could beat him by luck in video games from time to time. She just wished....closing her eyes tightly, she tried to picture him, every part of him. From his jeans to the messy T-shirt he always wore. From his laugh to his scowl, she pictured every time he'd taught her something, and every time he'd laughed when she got it wrong. Every time---

"Kat, trust me, closing your eyes won't block out the mental image of your ugly face." A voice laughed. A voice Harmony knew so well. Only a few people ever called her 'Kat'....please don't say that this was....oh GOD! Opening her eyes again, there he was, in all his 'glory'.

"Ryan?" Harmony questioned, as he smiled that lazy grin at her, though his eyes were shifty, not understanding his surroundings. One minute he's sprawled on the couch, watching T.V. the next, he'd at the beach. And his little sister who'd been missing for the past 2 months was here too.

"I know, I know. You were expecting someone uglier than me to match up with you." Ryan said with a theatrical sigh, as he suddenly felt himself hugged tightly around his waist. Surprised he took his sister's arms off of him, and she took a step back, her hand reaching out and touching him.

"I'm dreaming. This is a dream. You're not real." Harmony whispered to herself, as her heart sank in despair. She had felt him, seen him, hugged him for crying out loud, and it seemed real enough, but it wasn't. It couldn't be. Ryan couldn't come here, to this world!

"If you were dreaming, would I be able to do this?" Harmony half expected him to hold his head in his hand and still be able to talk, like in dreams, but he didn't. Instead, he crossed the distance in between them, and in one swift move he landed a punch on his sister's arm. Not hard enough to bruise her, but hard enough to convince her this wasn't a dream.

"Okay, so I'm not dreaming. But how did you get _here_?! I mean, I don't even know how...but I'm just so happy!" Wait, _happy._ Either her mind was screwing with her, or that silly wish had come true! Although, it probably meant nothing and there was a scientifical way to explain this, but still.

"I have to ask you the same question." Ryan said, as he motioned to the sand, and his sister sat on it, her legs criss crossed as she looked at him. "Kat, you just disappeared two months ago. No one found you....and now you're just here, **playing dress up**?! Don't you know how worried Mom and Dad are?! They called the police, they think your dead! They're trying to find a body!" Ryan almost shouted, but he cooled himself off with the knowledge she should have an explanation.

"I'm so sorry." Harmony whispered, but seeing his face, she started to quickly jump back in because she knew he would want an explanation. "Actually....it's a long story. Do you _really _want to know?" Harmony asked carefully, and seeing his sincere nod, she started.

She wove in and out of her story; how she found out she was the long lost daughter of a King and Queen in another world, and how she'd been cutting herself to take the pain away. From what Melody said about her at the ball, to the events that led up to it, she talked and kept talking until she noticed the sun setting. But then she only stopped, to let him comment.

"If I weren't here, and I didn't see that castle, I would have never believed you. No scratch that, I _barely_ believe you....but I'm glad you're fine, and not dead. At least I can tell Mom and Dad that I talked to you, and that you're fine, living with your real parents. Of course, they'll want to meet them, but I'll make up some excuse." Ryan started as he wrapped his arms around his smaller sister, something that was extremely, extremely, extremely, like once every hot pink moon, uncommon.

"Okay, okay, enough hugging! Now, how do I get you home, _that's _the problem." This wasn't Harmony talking, no; it was Kathy, as she pushed his arms away to look up at his cocky grin. With light brown eyes, and brownish blonde long hair that fell nicely over his forehead, he might have potential to be cute. Might. As in, not likely.

"What were you thinking about when you got me here, or wished me here or whatever." Ryan said, and Harmony sighed, closing her eyes.

"I'd been thinking about you. How much I missed you." She admitted, and even though Ryan would never say it, he'd missed her too. She was surprised though when he snapped his fingers and knocked a knuckle playfully against her head.

"Then think about home. Think about how many times you've run through the yard, or when we created a slide on the stairs. Think about me at home....wait a minute. Here, write on my arm so I can prove to Mom and Dad that you're alive." Ryan said suddenly, pulling out a sharpie from his pocket. Kathy smiled and nodded, writing a message to her parents on her brother's arm. Her handwriting was hard to read, so small and bunched up....but her parent's would recognize it anywhere. Her note to them read:

Dear Mom and Dad,

Look, I know you think I'm dead, but I'm not. Seriously, this isn't a dream. I'm living with my _real_ parents now, not that I never thought of you two as my real parents. Something's just came up and....I'm staying here let's just say. I love you all, and I'm definitely not dead. Promise. Swear. Whatever.

Love Kathy.

She'd had to use both of his arms for the message, but it was worth it. Ryan pulled down the sleeves of his sweatshirt then, and looked to Kathy with an expectant expression. But first, she leaned over...and hugged him. And he hugged her back, tightly.

"Remember, if I don't ever see you again Kat, that...I...I....well you know!" Ryan said as he couldn't get the words out of his throat. Kathy only grinned and nodded, punching him on his shoulder and getting one in return.

"I love you too, even if you are an idiot." She said smiling as he laughed at the joke. She then closed her eyes and did the hardest thing for her, ever. She closed her eyes and remembered home. The smell of the freshly mowed lawn, the pool, Ryan's cocky grin watching T.V. and making fun of her shows....she pictured as much as she could in her mind, when suddenly she felt a warm hand on her shoulder.

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**Very, very intense chapter. So how did she do it? Was it that stupid wish on the star that granted her her brother for an few hours, or was that her? How? Why? What?? Ah, the questions in time young child. **


	5. Chapter 5

"It's getting late." The voice said softly, as Harmony closed her eyes against the now pure darkness that was only illuminated by the moon. Leaving her brother had been....hard, but somehow...it made her feel a little better, as though telling him she was okay was fine. But how had he come here? Perhaps her Mother would know, maybe she should ask her, in the hypothetical sense of course.

"Sorry I missed dinner...I-I, well, okay, this is going to sound weird, but _hypothetically_...could a girl have magic powers?" That seemed as though it was the only way to sum up what had happened. Either the star knew what she was wishing for so badly, or she was the next Harry Potter, except way hotter.

"Why do you ask?" Ariel asked softly, confused at the question. She knew the answer to it, but she didn't understand what had the cause been for this sudden interest in magic.

"I read a lot, and I just wondered..." Harmony shrugged in that I-don't-know-I-just-was-thinking sense, to make it seem as though she didn't care. But in truth she did, and she wanted to know so badly. Ariel was quiet for a moment, letting the waves crash onto the land and make a soft noise before she answered her daughter's question, sitting on the sand beside her.

"In Atlantica...some mermaids discover that they have a special ability 'magic' if you will. Usually that ability fades away after a few days or even hours at times, and the mermaid can grow to be an adult without any hassle from her special ability, because like fire, it just burns brightly, and then it goes away. But some special mermaids and I mean, extremely, extremely, extremely, _extremely_ special ones have that ability for the rest of their lives. The last mermaid that I can recall who had a 'special' ability was born _hundreds_ of years ago though, and her magic only lasted a day before it vanished. And the last mermaid to have the ability to use magic the rest of her life....well, she was the one who created order under the sea, by creating the Triton, but that goes back thousands of years." Ariel said, remembering her history lessons. Harmony was quiet, before she turned back to Ariel, question alight in her eyes.

"But Grandfather....how does he use the Triton if he has no magical abilities? And what about Morgana? She was a sea _witch_." Harmony asked, as Ariel smiled, a bit delighted at how well the girl was finally letting down her guard and talking, even if it was about something unimportant.

"The Triton follows your commands, which are controlled by your moods. If you just mentally command it, you can destroy anything you wish. Or bring back to life a now dead garden, so it becomes beautiful again." Ariel stated, wishing she'd paid better attention in history class. Who would have known it would pay off some day? "And Morgana, technically wasn't a witch. She had no actual abilities, she just knew some spells, which with the right ingredients, can be created...but the thing about the ingredients is that, at most, it can last a week before the spell is broken up completely. The same with Ursula. Of course, her abilities were far greater and better than Morgana's by a hundred thousand, but technically, to be a witch you have to be born with that power." Ariel said softly, knowing now from her mistakes in life what spells can do to you.

"Ur-su-la? That's a weird name. Who's that?" Harmony asked with furrowed brows, and it donned on Ariel that Harmony had no clue about her past. Of course she'd seen her sisters, and probably come to the conclusion she'd become human...but would it be right to tell her now? Well, as long as she was up....

"Harmony, do you know how I met your father, or rather, how I first saw him?" With a clear shake of the teen's head, Ariel smiled and continued. "Do you even know why Morgana was after you?" Another shake of the head caused Ariel to frown. She should have already told her daughter all of this. But from the looks of it, she hadn't.

"Alright, then I'll tell you. I was sixteen when I first saw your father....." Ariel started, giving Harmony the short versions of both stories. She didn't want to give the girl any ideas, plus, by the time she looked up at the sky again, the moon was high, almost at the very top. Nearing midnight. Wow.

"It's late honey, you should have gone to bed hours ago." Ariel murmured, but as she looked over at her daughter, she realized the girl had fallen asleep. Smiling to herself softly, Ariel gently coaxed her out of her dreams, and made sure she went back to her room before going to her own room, where Eric's waiting arms were there for her.

"Huhhhh-ah." Harmony yawned as she pulled the nightgown over her head. Different thoughts ran through her sleepy mind, as she rubbed her eyes and let the thoughts take over her mind.

Magic, special abilities...but Ariel had said you'd have to be a _mermaid_ for that! Though, technically she was the daughter of a mermaid....even then it was extremely, extremely, extremely, extremely, _extremely_, like once in every A+ she'd get, rare. But still...the Triton. No one understood how she created that ball of lightning that destroyed Morgana. No one could understand how she just disappeared and then reappeared years later.

Frowning sleepily because she wanted her thoughts to shut up and let her go to sleep already, Harmony sat up in the bed to prove that she wasn't a type of witch or anything of that sort.

She closed her eyes, thinking of a hot fudge sundae. She remembered how the fudge melted on her tongue, how the chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry mix of ice creams she always created to make the sundae cooled her off on a hot day, and how her friends would grab a spoon and dig in even when she told them not to. She remembered the taste of them, savoring the phantom taste in her mouth. Finally, she had enough of the stupidness.

Reopening her eyes, Harmony's eyes fell to her hand. Nope, no hot fudge sundae. She looked to her other hand to find the same answer. Nothing. It was the star after all, she convinced herself so she could get some much needed and wanted sleep. Satisfied with her discovery, her mind finally shut up as she fell back to her pillow, and her eyes blinked off sleepiness. As a habit, she looked to her nightstand to see the alarm clock. But her eyes didn't lock with any alarm clock though, no, they locked with something far scarier.

There was a hot fudge sundae on the nightstand, tipped with a cherry, like she always had them.

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**Due to the increasing number of death threats, i will no longer be posting. JUST KIDDING! By now, i'm used to death threats by my best friends, such as the ever so famous "I will rip out your spine and beat you with it until you die" lovely Camille, just lovely. Ah demented death threating poetry. **

**Okay, so how'd u like this chapter? I know the last one kind of sucked, but this one totally makes up for it! I mean, honestly, did u read the ending?! That's the best cliffhanger....but i'm not that much of a biatch so i'll be posting another chapter tonight....possibly. Idk. I'll tell u if i will...or maybe ull just see it...hmmm....**


	6. Chapter 6

As Harmony ate the hot fudge sundae, because honestly--who would want to let a good sundae go to waste?--she sat thinking and thinking. This proved that she had that special power Ariel talked about....but why her? Why not Melody, who loved, lived breathed it here? Nothing made sense to her right now. When she finished with the sundae, she watched as the glass disappeared right in her hands, as though it'd never been there. Shaking her head, Harmony tried to prove that this was only a trick.

Closing her eyes, she imagined herself as a mermaid. Her tail worked as one muscle, her shells custom to fit only her small chest. The fins effortlessly gliding through the water, the way her hair sprawled out and became a darker red in the water than before. How she didn't need to go up for a breath, because the water felt just fine to her. Taking in a deep breath, Harmony was surprised to find water rush up her nose. Opening her eyes frantically, she saw it.

Her sky blue tail reflecting off the moonlight that hit the water. Her shells, feeling like a bra but sturdier, meant for toughness. Her blue eyes could see perfectly under the water, as she smiled at herself as laughed giddily, but quietly all the same. She was a _witch_! Oh how her friends would be jealous! Harry Potter stood nothing against her, as the girl twirled around in the water, dancing to invisible music that none other than her could hear. In the distance she could see Atlantica shining, but for fear of recognition, she stayed where she was in the water, her blue eyes dancing lively. Realizing that she would have to get back to her room, she scooped down and picked up a shell, holding it tight within her grasp.

Trying something different, this time Harmony didn't think of how great her room was, she just pictured it in her mind, her wonderfully small room, and in a blink of an eye she was there.

She still had on her nightgown, but she could care less as she quietly tiptoed around the room before collapsing on the bed in muffled giggles. She hadn't been thinking about her room back at the castle, no, she'd been thinking about her room in Nebraska. Smiling to the posters in the dark room, she twirled on her heels, a smile so wide on her face that if one missed it they were blind.

Her room was just the way she'd left it; messy. A soccer ball in the corner and next to it a pair of orange cleats, her bed hastily made and therefore a bit messy. Her eighth grade year book peeking out from under her bed, her bean bag chair littered with books. Her alarm clock half on the nightstand and half off for she'd been angry in the morning that it woke her up. Her C.D.'s a dime a dozen all along her room in any place possible. Her desk covered in books, magazines, pictures, memories and above her desk hung her island calendar, each date carefully crossed out in red marker. This, her mind told her was what a room should look like.

Sighing, she sat on the bed with a glimmer of a smile as she looked at the other wall in her room, and she pictured her room back at the castle, and once again, she was there.

Her hair was still wet from being a mermaid, and in her hand, the shell she'd picked up in the sea. In her other hand, her favorite mix C.D. Laying both on her nightstand, wearily, the girl fell asleep. But for the first time in a long time, no tears stained her face, no blood fell from her arms.....she was truly happy.

First dawn's light hit Harmony's face, and so the cool wind of her balcony door still open. Shivering, she pulled the blanket around her tightly as she tried to go back to sleep. No, sleep was impossible now. Getting up sleepily from her warm bed, she walked over to the balcony doors and shut them, the coldness of the room making her still shiver.

She had this weird dream last night that Ryan had somehow came back....and she was a witch, it had been a nice dream now that she remembered it. Usually after she dreamt her dreams fell from her memory and she had no idea what she dreamt of....but in this dream she could see it so clearly...as if it was real life!

Shaking her red hair out at how silly that sounded, she walked over to her nightstand to pick up the brush. Right next to her brush was....a C.D. with words all over it, her favorite mix C.D. that Emily had made for her! And on top of that....a shell? The same shell she had in her dream! But that was--how--oh GOD! She really was a-a-a-witch!

"No, that's stupid." Harmony muttered to herself, but looking quickly around the room and finding no one in it, she stood stalk still, closed her eyes, and pictured herself as a mermaid.

When she reopened her eyes, she was surprised to find herself under the water, her sky blue tail keeping her in place instead of her legs. Almost shaking from shock, she tried to convince herself she was dreaming.

To prove that she was, she dug her broken but still sharp nails into her skin, and waited for no pain. Oh was she wrong. Almost yelping from how much it hurt, she let go of her arm and looked at the nail marks closely. Yes, there were clear marks in her skin from where her nails had pierced her. Even tiny slivers of blood where there, starting to come up.

No, this is a dream; she tried to convince herself again, this time she thought of something impossible to prove it. Remembering fire, she closed her eyes and let the warmth of it spread through her body. Then reopening her eyes, she noticed that her right fist was clenched tightly. Frowning, she unclenched it, just to find....fire.

A small flame floating above the palm of her hand was there, and with a snap of her fingers, she was able to extinguish it quickly. Then, trying to do it again, she thought of that flame again, floating in the middle of her palm....and there it was. How cool...but at the same time freaky!

Smiling a little to herself, she thought of her room back at the palace, and in an instant she was there. Her wet hair fell down her back, soaking her nightgown, but she didn't care as she tried the fire trick again.

_Fire_, she thought, and then it was there, like always in the middle of her palm, floating. Snapping the flame out, she thought of the next thing. _Ice_, she thought slowly, and hovering above her hand was an icicle. _Earth_, she thought next, and floating above her hand instead of the ice was a brown rock. _Air_, she thought last, and hovering above her hand was a small tornado now. Staring at the tornado she came to a realization that made her smile, but also sent chills down her spine.

She was a witch.

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**Wow, so now what will she do? She's a witch...but can she tell her parents? And will the power fade, or keep growing stronger? How will she deal with this new information? The answers to all your questions in the next chapter!**

**REVIEW!**


	7. Chapter 7

"You know, Mom and Dad are starting to get worried. They think your skipping meals on purpose now." Melody's soft voice stated, behind her sister. The girl whirled around, and stared at Melody for a second before shrugging.

"I'm not skipping them on purpose. I just have a lot on my mind." Harmony stated softly, letting the wind blow at her face. The warm cloak she had on felt good, it kept out the cold from her body. It was too cold to do anything more than walk on the beach, along the shore line.

"If this is about what happened a few days ago...with Alec, I'm really sorry. I didn't know that people wouldn't get over it, even after I apologized. I'm---" Melody's sentence was cut short as she saw her sister hold up a hand to silence her.

"A few bruises aren't that bad; I'm fine. Leave me alone though, okay? I really need to think." Harmony said as the wind carried her voice across to Melody who gave her a funny look, but shrugged anyway and nodded.

"Fine. But just for warning, Mother said to come back in by lunch or else." Melody said as she turned on her heel and walked away. Harmony smiled softly to herself, and looked out at the sea, and then back at Melody.

"Fire." She whispered, and with a giddy, but quiet laugh a small fire formed on her hand. It felt like a tiny heartbeat, the heat of it warming her entire body although the flame was actually very small. She was too caught up in her new found ability though to realize that she was far from the castle, where she'd been two days prior when the boys had ganged up on her.

She heard the voices before she saw them. At first she grew panicked, thinking that they were after her, but as she went as close as she dared to the boys without being seen, she saw that they were on top of another boy, who was trying to keep them off. But when there's one boy against five...well it's tough to win.

"What's the matter huh? Can't do anything can you geek!" Alec hissed, and Harmony almost laughed and gave away where she was as she saw his nose. It was covered up in medical tape, but it was swollen to a certain degree where he looked funny.

"Stop!" The boy on the ground said, but he could do nothing as they kept punching and kicking him. Harmony suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of pity for the boy. Oh, how she knew what it felt like to be the one on the ground, how much she wanted it to stop but she couldn't. Well, she wasn't going to let that keep happening.

Locking her jaw, she looked at them and knew she had to do something....but what? Looking around, she tried to get an idea of what to do. Rocks, shells, water....WATER! Biting her lip in concentration, she closed her eyes and thought of a wave crashing over the boys, a cold wave. Not the boy on the ground, just the ones kicking him. Just a huge wave taking over them, while the boy on the ground stayed completely dry...

"AH! I'm all wet! Jeez that's freezing!" Harmony heard Alec's voice call out, and she quickly opened her eyes to see....him and his goons soaking wet, but the boy on the ground completely dry. Smiling a bit to herself, she thought of a heavy wind, blowing at those boys so they became even colder.

"The wind is picking up!" The pip squeak of the group called out, as Harmony triumphantly held her head high, but still out of their view.

"Come on!" The biggest boy out of all of them cried out as they all ran off, probably to get warm. The boy on the ground just stared after them as they ran off, and Harmony then decided to come out of hiding, to see if he was okay or not.

"Here, these are probably yours." Harmony said as she kneeled on the ground, handing the boy his glasses back, which were now cracked. She noticed, even though his black eye, bloody lip, and a few cuts and worse looking bruises all over his face...he was kind of cute. With warm chocolate brown eyes, and light brown with red tinges here and there, hair that fell in soft waves to the back of his neck....he was kind of cute.

"Thanks." The boy said, as he squinted at his glasses, and then rubbed the cracked lenses against the shirt. "Those guys are complete assholes." He said, putting on his glasses and staring at the girl sitting mere inches from his face. His response to looking at her was jaw dropping.

She had a black eye, and a lip that looked as though it had once been swollen pretty badly. A few bruises were on her hands, and he couldn't see her arms because they were covered by a long sleeved dress. She had bright, electric blue eyes that stood out from her face, and vibrant red hair that only two people in probably the whole world had. The Queen and Princess Harmony. Wonderful, he'd just sweared in front of a princess.

"Y-your H-H-highness!" He stuttered out, as he stiffly stood up to bow. She was the princess! Future Queen and he'd just sweared right in front of her! Before he could bow though, with a fluid motion the Princess had knocked him off his feet by swinging one of her legs around, and he fell to the sand, just staring at her.

"My name is Harmony. Not 'Princess' not 'Your highness', its Harmony." The girl said sharply, and the boy was dumbfounded. He'd been taught, like the rest of the children, that royalty had to be addressed as such...but the princess...er, _Harmony_, didn't seem to care about that. "What's your name?"

"Jonathan. But my friends call John...at least they would if I had any." He said bitterly, and he was surprised when the princess snorted.

"Join the club." Harmony said with a bitter laugh that she shared with John. They both looked at each other then, and sighed.

"Why don't _you_ have any friends? You're the princess!" John said, furrowing his brows. "I mean, for me it's obvious. No one likes the smart kid." He said bitterly as Harmony sighed, and let her fingers play with the sand.

"Just because I'm a princess, it doesn't mean I automatically gain friends. I mean, just look at my black eye! If I had friends, Alec and his goons wouldn't have ganged up on me two days ago." Harmony sighed, as John sat up quickly and stared at her.

"He ganged up on you too?" He wondered, and the girl sighed but nodded her head anyway.

"Yup. And all because little miss jealously couldn't stand me being in the spotlight, so she told everyone that I was a slut." Harmony sighed again, letting her fingers play with the sand still. That might have been two months ago....but the pain that it caused didn't go away so easily. She looked up to find John staring at her, and she sighed again, knowing where this was leading. "Look, if you want me to kiss you, you're wrong. I'm not going to, so don't even think about it." Harmony sighed again, wishing that those weren't the words she had to say now, but thanks to Melody, she did.

"I wasn't planning on you kissing me. I didn't believe it when your sister said you were a slut you know." John sighed, and Harmony looked up startled at his answer, and furrowed her brows too.

"Y-You didn't?" She asked, and John nodded and then shrugged. He didn't think she was a slut! That was music to her ears...beautiful music that she hadn't heard in the longest time.

"You think you're the only one with sibling's who spread rumors about you?" John questioned with a bitter smile that was returned by Harmony. "My older brother is ashamed that I'd rather spend time in the library than out being an idiot like Alec and his friends. So to keep me from ruining his popularity, he said that I liked other guys better than girls, which is a total _**lie**_. I like girls....it's just that they don't like geeks like me back. He said that two years ago. I'm still made fun of it today." John sighed again, his bitter smile replaced by an even harder and bitterer one as he thought of it.

"Trust me, you're not the only one who likes the opposite gender, but they don't ever like you back. And then when you think you finally found the person who likes you for you---" Harmony said, but was cut off by John who finished the sentence for her.

"It turns out that they were only pretending to like you to show off to their friends or it's a bet." John finished, and he was startled when he saw the princess look at his eyes and smile sadly, which he returned.

"Looks like we're both outcast's John." Harmony stated, as she broke off her gaze from the boy to the sea. "Since no one will ever think of us as anything but freaks....wanna be friends? Maybe then we can find a way to get back at them." Harmony stated softly, as her heart soared with hope at the prospect of having at least one friend who she could talk to.

"I'd like that." John said with a smile, which Harmony returned fully. "Hey, is it true that you killed a puppy because you were an evil baby?" John asked in a joking tone, knowing full well that that rumor was false, but he wanted to see if this girl really was different than the others....like if she understood him, or was just using him like all the other ones had done.

"Of course I did. What baby hasn't killed a puppy before?!" Harmony laughed, as John laughed with her, sure for a fact now that she wasn't using him.

As the two sat on the sand, they discovered how much they had in common, and actually laughed so much that by the time they realized they'd spent hours talking to each other because it was sunset, they had tears rolling down their faces.

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**Not my best chapter, i know, but i needed to introduce John because he'll play a big roll in Harmony's life. But, how can she tell him that she's no ordinary girl....how can she tell her parents that?! Either they'll lock her up in a aslyum or they'll understand....the first one sounds more likely, at least in her teenage mind. All in good time though, all in good time you'll see how everything starts to slowly fit together. **

**REVIEW! Or else i won't write anymore....ha ha, like that'll ever happen. **


	8. Chapter 8

"Harmony....are you alright?" Ariel asked, concerned for her daughter's well being. The girl just looked up and shrugged, trying to keep her giggles from coming out as she thought of a joke John had told her earlier.

"I'm fine. Why?" Harmony asked, furrowing her eyebrows as Ariel gave her a strange look

"You've just seemed..._happy_. And then you were late to dinner." Eric pointed out, and the girl said nothing for a moment, moving the food around her plate before turning back to her parents.

"We just lost track of time 'cuz we were laughing too much." Harmony said with a shrug, and Eric looked up with eyebrows raised, as Ariel hid a smile at the 'we' part of that sentence.

"'We'?" Eric questioned, as Harmony gave a sheepish smile, realizing the mistake. Damn, she always used the wrong words.

"John and me." Harmony said with another shrug as Eric's eyes went wide at the fact that his daughter had been with a boy, and Ariel almost burst out laughing at Eric's expression.

"John....as in Jonathan?! That **geek**?! Why would you talk to _him_?! He's so weird!" Melody insisted as she scrunched up her nose in disgust. Eric was more shocked that his daughter actually talked to boys, in places he had no control to stop them, and Ariel, well Ariel was just smiling, glad Harmony found a friend.

"He's not a geek, and he's not weird. He's actually really cool." Harmony started, but once she saw Melody's mouth open to respond, she quickly talked over her. "And it turns out we have a lot in common. He as an idiot sibling who backstabs him, I do too...." Harmony said as Melody rolled her blue eyes at the low shot.

"At least _I _get better grades than you." Melody shot back, and Harmony's eyes darkened. But before she could respond, Eric came in, breaking up the fight.

"You were alone with a boy?!" He asked, as terror seized him. Harmony, boys....no it's not possible for her to actually look at them. Ariel put a gentle hand on his arm, and her touch calmed him back to his normal state. And when he looked in her eyes, the basically said 'I'll talk to her later about it'. Good, maybe she should add later in her and Harmony's talk 'don't look at boys'.

"Remember Dad? She was alone in the woods with a boy." Melody said sweetly as Harmony sweetly smiled back, knowing just how bitchy girls could be. That was the difference between girls and boys.

When boys were mad at each other, they just spoke about it out loud to one another, clearing the situation. But when girls were mad at each other they became bitches, talking behind one another's backs, gossiping, spreading rumors....but then again, girls had the advantage of making a boy do something for them if they looked good enough.

"Tell me Melody, how many boys have _**you**_ kissed?" Harmony said with a sweet smile, as Melody looked down at her plate, muttering something about how boys were stupid. "So I guess you're still a lip virgin, huh?" There, now she won this battle.

"Lip-virgin?" Ariel asked, amused at the word. She looked over at Eric who was frowning at Harmony, but when he saw Ariel looking at him he smiled right back in her favorite crooked smile.

"It's when you still haven't kissed a boy. I mean, still being a lip virgin over fourteen is just sad." Harmony said, sending a silent message in her words to Melody that she still had time. Melody looked up with a shrug and a small grin to Harmony, which the girl returned easily.

"I was a 'lip virgin' until I was sixteen. Your father was the first boy I ever kissed, and the only one too." Ariel said as she put her hand in Eric's and he smiled back, showing his dimples.

"But then how do you know if you're a good kisser if you've only ever kissed one person?" Harmony questioned, as Eric and Ariel smiled at their daughters.

"Like this." Eric answered, as he leaned into catch Ariel's mouth, despite protest's from their daughter's. They were in a world of their own, far from the castle...just in the clouds....but even clouds have to have oxygen. When they finally pulled away, both parents noticed musingly that their daughter's were gone from their seats, probably disgusted by the open affection.

"Harmony? Sweetheart can you put the book away so we can talk?" Ariel asked softly, as Harmony looked up from the couch she was sitting on in the library, and shrugged, putting the book on her lap. If Ariel had looked closely, she would have noticed the title was strange, due to the fact that it referenced witches...but she didn't as she sat on the couch with her daughter.

"I swear, Melody did it." Harmony quickly answered when she saw Ariel sit down, and Ariel softly laughed and shook her head.

"Your not in any trouble, I just wanted to talk to you." Ariel said, running her fingers through her daughter's red hair.

"About....?" Harmony questioned, a bit nervous. Talking was never good, never. Last time she'd had a sit down talk with her parents....*shudder* she didn't even want to remember it.

"Your friend, John." Please, please, please don't let this be a sex talk, Harmony silently prayed, as Ariel continued. "I'm glad you made a friend, but I just wanted to talk to you about boys." It was a sex talk. Thank you God, really, your help is appreciated.

"I already had the sex talk when I was eight, and then in seventh grade we had to do Life Science, which we had to go over male and female anatomy's. And then we watched a video of a baby being born." Harmony shudder thinking about the last thing she had said. When she had seen how babies actually came out....let's just say she was now all up for the idea of adopting.

"Video?" Ariel questioned, and Harmony nodded, but then it donned on her that Ariel had no clue what a video was. Well...how do you explain that? It was just something she'd grown up with...she took that for granted, people knowing what she was talking about because they always did.

"It's hard to explain. Um...let's just say that everyone saw a baby being born, boys and girls. Trust me; I'm already scarred for life from that." Harmony shuddered again, remembering her brother warning her about that day. He'd said to ditch school that exact day, but she'd been naïve and told him that ditching was for losers. Oh how she regretted it.

"That's the miracle of life Harmony." Ariel laughed softly, smiling down at Harmony, but then switched subjects back to boys. "I know you've been in the woods alone with boys before, and I'm trusting that you've used your better sense not to do anything you'd regret with them. I just wanted to tell you that boys are tricky, alright? I don't mind if he's your friend or not, but just use your better sense when you're around him....them. I hope you understand what I'm trying to say." Ariel said, and Harmony sighed but nodded. Anything to get her mother to stop talking about boys in this way.

"I understand, don't worry." Harmony said with a sigh as Ariel smiled and kissed her head.

"Good, now get to bed. Go, it's past your curfew." Ariel said, pushing Harmony along. The girl was about to argue, when she realized something it seemed and nodded, running to her room. Ariel smiled and picked up the book her daughter had been reading, to put it back on a shelf. She noticed the title was 'Witches and Faeries' but thought nothing of it as she put the book on the shelf.

_Fire_, Harmony thought, and immediately the small flame appeared in the middle of her hand. Good, she could do simple things....but what about harder things? Imagining a pair of jeans and her favorite sweatshirt from home, immediately her night gown disappeared as her normal clothes appeared on her body. Sweet, now it was time for a better test though.

Thinking about the fair, which she knew would be in town at Nebraska by now; she closed her eyes tightly and imagined the fair. The roller coasters, the kid's, her friends....reopening her eyes, she wasn't surprised to find herself in the middle of a very, very busy night fair. But switching worlds had taken alot out of the young teen, and she realized how much of her strength this had taken. When she had switched from her room in the palace to her room in Nebraska, that'd been easy because she'd just been thinking of her room in general, and plus she was so much in her room that the change in worlds hadn't done a thing to her. Switching to a place she's barely in, now that was hard.

She realized that she was panting heavily, and she started stumbling, as if she'd just run ten miles. Sweat dripped off her forehead as she held onto a picnic table for support. Finally, when she felt that her feet could hold her up, she started walking around the park.

Smiling softly, she started to walk towards the Ferris Wheel, which she knew was at the end of the fair grounds. She pulled up her hood too, so that no one would recognize her as she past a bunch of drunken seniors from her school. Just taking in the sights, sounds, the atmosphere of the fair, she stood in the short line for the Ferris Wheel.

"....'member how she used to love this ride the best? And how she'd go on it a million times before we'd drag her off." A voice in front of her said, and Harmony's kept her head low, but her eyes widened as she recognized the voice. It couldn't be....

"Then when we were dragging her off, she'd stop to buy some food, so she could barf it out after she went on the roller coaster?" Another voice that she immediately recognized laughed, and the others around her laughed also.

"I miss her so much." No! That couldn't be....but it sounded...no, this was crazy.

"Okay, okay! How many in your group?" The Carnie said, as the group in front of her reached the cart entrance. Harmony knew how many were in their group even before they all answered at the same time.

"Five." They all said, and then came a round of Jinx while the Carnie looked behind the group to straight at her.

"Kid, you riding with someone?" He asked, and Harmony shook her head, her hood still up, and her gaze directed to the ground. "Then you're riding with this group. Go on, I haven't got all night." Harmony shuffled into the Ferris Wheel car slowly, and sat on the other side of the car as she waited for the ride to lift up.

Sullenly she pretended to look out the side of the Ferris Wheel, looking at the now far away ground. But she wasn't really paying attention to the Ferris Wheel height, she was listening to the group talk. They just ignored her the entire ride as they reminisced about a missing friend. Harmony wanted so badly to tell them she was there, she was fine...but how could she talk to them without them dragging her back home? No, she'd chosen the world she wanted to live in....and she didn't regret it....much. Keeping her hood up, she just stared out at the ground, and finally jumped off the ride when it was time to exit this nightmare. Going to a secluded area of the park, the port-a-potty's, she went inside of one and held up her nose, while thinking of her warm safe bed back at the palace....in her room....away from her friends. Far away.

When she opened her eyes again, she was sweating, and panting heavily, but she was back in the castle, in her nightgown. Letting herself cool off some before going to sleep, Harmony tried as hard as she could not to think of her friends, who'd been so worried for her. No, she couldn't think of them now that she had chosen her life. Finally, she fell in her sheets, exhausted, but her thoughts finally caught up with her, and made her remember every sad, and wistful word that her friends had said.

Her sobs were her lullaby.

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**Sorry it took me so long to post this chapter but when i originally started it was in this totally other direction that i felt was to early in the story for it to go that way. Don't worry though, i'll post another chapter tonight!**

**REVIEW! **


	9. Chapter 9

"....and that's what a pickle really is for." John finished the story, grinning as he saw Harmony on the sand, laughing so hard that tears were falling down her face. Today was the second day she was spending with John, the first being the day before when she'd saved him from those bullies. She suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to tell him about her powers, and even though she'd only known him for two days, she hoped he'd understand.

"John, if I told you something, and it's something that I swear you can't tell anyone about, and I mean _anyone_...would you listen?" Harmony asked in a quiet tone, to her only friend. He looked up, surprised at her request because she never said anything in that quiet tone of voice.

"Um...I guess. No, I'm positive I wouldn't. Swear it." John said, and Harmony nodded, as if she was resolved in her mind now.

"Okay...well, you see...I'm a witch. Mermaids---" Harmony was cut off by John as he sighed and looked at her with one of those expressions that still confused her about him. It was a cross between....no, she couldn't even understand what it was a cross in between.

"I know." John said, with total sincerity as Harmony screeched her next question, right in his ear.

"WHAT?!" She asked, and he grinned as he looked up at her, and started to explain.

"When you were hiding yesterday so Alec and his goons wouldn't see you...I saw you. At first I thought it was a trick of the light, but when I saw you just made a wave dump on him, and then I saw how much you wanted the wind to make him cold, I just got curious...but I didn't want to scare you out of being my friend, so I didn't tell you what I thought I saw. I thought you might not like me." John said softly, almost sadly. But he broke out of it in a moment and continued with the story.

"I went to the library though and found theses old stories about how the Sea Kingdom of Atlantica came to be, and how mermaids could be witches, but it was extremely rare. I didn't think you could be a witch because you weren't a mermaid, but then I realized that since your mother was a mermaid, your half mermaid, which makes you eligible to be a witch. " John said quietly, as Harmony's eyes grew wide with shock, but then she sighed and grinned a little. Well, at least now she would have to explain. Who knew that John would be so cool about it? Then again, he didn't have any other friends....well, she wasn't going to make him anymore uncomfortable than he was.

"Well, Mr. Smarty Pants, since you know all about me being a witch, and haven't told anyone, including me, I'm not going to kill you. Instead, I'm going to have some fun. Here, hold my hands." Harmony said, and when John hesitated, she snorted and grabbed his hands in hers.

"What are you doing Harmony?" He asked in a warning voice, as Harmony only laughed, and looked at him directly.

"Trust me." She said, smiling as he muttered something about the first for letters of her name and her record of trusting. Then, Harmony thought as hard as she could of her being a mermaid....and then John being a merman. She imagined him with a navy colored tail, and his chest all puffed out in the water. It took a lot of her strength to do this, as she wasn't used to such hard things, but she tried as hard as she could anyway, breathing really hard....and then having water go up her nose.

"I'm a merman." John noticed as Harmony opened her eyes, and nodded, hoping he would freak out. "Great, my best friend is a witch. Remind me not to get into any fights with you, okay?" John joked as Harmony playfully pushed him.

The thing about Harmony and John was that, at least for right now, they only liked each other as far as a brother and sister would....or that's what they convinced themselves from only one day of hanging out.

"Here, I wanted to show you this really cool cave I found this morning. Maybe you might know something about it." Harmony said, swimming easily to the cave. It was so cool though! Kind of like a haunted house...except there were no ghost's in it.

"_This_ is what you wanted to show me?!" John said with raised brows as Harmony excitedly nodded, and grabbed his hand to go inside of the mouth of the cave. Literally, it was like a purple and black monster, it had a mouth and everything! Although now it was really overgrown...but it was still kind of cool.

"Isn't it sweet? And no one comes here anyway, I think, because it's so far from Atlantica; it's like, the perfect hang out!" Harmony said with excitedness just radiating off of her like heat. John just looked around at the place and felt a chill go up his spine.

"Harmony, how does this place not creep you out?" He wondered as the girl laughed, singing softly to herself as she twirled around....and bumped into a shelf. A book on the shelf teetered off the edge and hit her head with a THUMP! and John's laugh was the next thing she heard.

"Nice going." He said, as Harmony rubbed the spot on her head where the book had hit her. Making a face at John who was looking at various knick-knack's and such all along the cave place, Harmony looked over at the book.

"Spellbook." She said in a slightly confused as she read off the title of the book. John whirled around and swam over to her, looking at her thoughtfully. "I wonder...." Harmony said, as she flipped the book open and read off from a page.

"_Eleka nahmen nahmen  
Ah tum ah tum eleka nahmen Meno non cordo..._

"Harmony, how are you doing that?!" John asked, bewildered. Harmony looked up at him, and gave him a confused look.

"Doing what? Reading?" She asked as her brows furrowed, and she gave him a clearly confused look. John grabbed the book from her hands and looked from the book, to her, to the book again, and then her.

"This is written in another language Harmony....and, look, here", John said, pointing to a certain part that Harmony had read "Isn't in a language, trust me, I know. This is a symbol, and yet you read it."

"I did? But I thought it was written in English!" Harmony clarified, as John looked from the book, to her and shook his head, bewildered at his friend's powers.

"What does it mean?" He asked as he handed Harmony back the book, and she read it aloud as if it was a normal book. When John gave her a look that said she was still speaking in another tongue, she tore her eyes away from the book, and looked up at him, having it memorized.

"_Daughter of both land and sea; Defeater of who'd forsaken the trident; Hold the magic in you tightly; For it is your destiny to believe." _

Harmony said, and John looked at her with raised brows. "What? Did I speak in another language again?" Harmony asked, and John shook his head quickly, sitting on the floor of the cave and feeling another chill go up his spine.

"No, I think it's a prophecy...about you." John said, and he was answered by a disbelieving and skeptical look.

"Yeah, sure. Like I'm that great to be prophesized about." Harmony said with a snort, as she sat on the floor with John. He looked uncomfortable in this cave, although Harmony couldn't begin to understand why. It wasn't _that_ scary.

"No really, I'm serious." John said, and Harmony looked up and sighed, snapping her fingers to play with the fire.

"I am too. John, I'm just a normal teenage girl who just so happens to have magical powers." Harmony said, as she extinguished the fire, and started playing with rocks, having them rearrange their original shapes to morph that of different ones. John pretended as though it was no big deal, but in his mind he was freaking out! His best friend from somehow only a day of talking was morphing the shapes of _**rocks,**_ which were _floating _above her hand! Plus she had fire in her fingers, under water!

"But you can read this book, and I can't! You can make anything appear and then disappear; you can create fire under water!" John said, now extremely uneased at this place. There was something about it that made him want to run and hide, although Harmony seemed completely comfortable.

"Like I said before, I'm just a teen with magic powers, which I can control....mostly." Harmony said with a sigh, looking up at John before sighing again at how freaked out he seemed to be in this cave. "Let's go. I want to get home before dinner so I can hide this book." Harmony said, grabbing her friend's hand and swimming out of the cave.

Then, putting both of his hands in hers, she thought about the both of them, on land, and as humans. It was harder to become human than it had been to become a mermaid, now that there were two people. But Harmony sweating heavily and panting pushed against her limits, and somehow made it as a human, back on land where they had been before.

"I'll see you tomorrow, right?" Harmony said, running a hand through her wet hair, and slowing down her panting. It was hard doing it for two people, extremely hard. Easy when she could use her abilities on herself, but harder when she had to do it with another.

"Can't. My mom wanted me to babysit my younger sister." John said with a sorry smile, and Harmony gave him a pitied look, ignoring the image of him shirtless in the water. For a boy she only liked as a brother, he was hot. But she only liked him like that...she couldn't be actually crushing on him! Besides, he'd never like her back that way...could he?

"Oh that sucks. Well, then I'll see you in two days." Was it just him, or when she talked did his heart feel like....weird. Was he...crushing on her?! No, he couldn't be! Besides, she'd never like him in that way back...could she? Watching as she walked off, John kept mulling the thought over in his mind.

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**Okay, so i know it's not your dream chapter, but its a chapter still, and like all my chapters, this is important because it explains about some things that are going to become very important in the near future. REVIEW!**


	10. Chapter 10

"Harmony, sweetheart, _what are you doing_?" Ariel wondered at dinner as she watched Harmony drum her two pointer fingers against the edge of the table, humming a soft melody to the beat.

"I'm playing the imaginary drums, duh." Harmony said with a crooked smile to her parents before returning back to the table and humming out that melody a little louder, not so loud that they could hear it that well though.

"_Why_ are you playing the imaginary drums though?" Eric also wondered, as Harmony looked up and rolled her blue eyes, as if it was obvious.

"Because, I have this sick-nasty beat stuck in my head and it keeps playing _over _and_ over _and_ over _and_ over_; it's really getting annoying!" Harmony said with a sigh, as she focused on playing the imaginary drums on the edge of the table.

Ariel smiled a bit along with Eric, noticing the change in Harmony. She wasn't so sarcastic or bitter these past two days...she was _happy_. A bit scary to the parents how it happened so fast, but it was a welcomed change none the less.

"Eat first, and _then_ you can drum out that beat." Ariel said with a smile, putting a gentle hand on her daughter's shoulder. The girl sighed dramatically but stopped drumming fingers against the table and started eating again.

"Fine." Harmony said dramatically, but smiled up at her parents who seemed a bit surprised but smiled back all the same. She poked at the food around her plate, but really didn't eat any, but her parents were more concerned over their other daughter who was telling a story about 'how great her day was'. Rolling her eyes, Harmony saw the opportunity to sneak out, without anyone knowing, and did just that, smiling a little to herself. Her feet lead her right to the piano, and once her fingers touched the keys, she started to sing.

"_You may find me just a little strange  
I like dancing barefoot in the pouring rain  
My mind is racing at the speed of light  
I'll dance around you like a satellite_

I'm reckless  
Your speechless

_Scream, shout, I love it loud  
I feel the need to stand out in the crowd  
Nothing's wrong with me  
Freak out, I stand my ground  
Nothing in the world is gonna keep me down  
Nothing's wrong with me__**impolite**__  
Don't try to analyze, or be profound  
Cause life's too short to be so tightly wound!" _

I say some things that might not come out right  
I say them loud, and proud, and

Harmony's laugh sounded out as she softly sang that song, feeling so much better than just a few days ago. She was a witch, she had a best friend who could care less, she could go home, and come back to her other one. Life wasn't so bad right now.

"Bravo." A voice behind her said, as Harmony whirled around to see Ariel standing there with an amused expression as she came up beside the piano, leaning against it as she looked at her young teenage daughter.

"I didn't know you were there." Harmony said, blushing a little as her mother just gave her a small grin, and pushed back the girl's out of control hair with her slender fingers.

"Don't be so embarrassed. I am your mother after all, I'm supposed to hear you sing and play." Ariel's gentle reprimand came out as Harmony shrugged, still blushing as her cheeks heated up.

"Yes, but as a mother you're also supposed to tell me how 'great' it was, even when you knew it was terrible. Besides, I was just messing around." Harmony said as she felt her face grow hotter. Ariel hid a smile at how embarrassed her daughter was at having her mother listen to her music.

"Is it a crime for me to be proud of my only red-headed daughter?" Ariel wondered with a smile to Harmony's crimson blush that went all the way down to her neck. "Go to bed, it's late honey." Ariel said, smiling still as she kissed her daughter's head and gently pushed her along. The girl gave a sour look, before brightening and running to her room. What she was so happy about, not even Ariel could know.

'_Fly'. _Harmony thought to herself as she focused all of her energy on lifting her feet off the ground. It was hard to do, and it took a lot of effort, but when she finally opened her eyes, she was floating, inches above the ground.

She didn't have the effort to keep up off the ground so she felt herself gently being lowered to her feet, and she tried again, this time getting a few more inches off the ground. She kept trying, and exhausting herself until she was at least a good three feet off the ground, and then she just collapsed.

Her rear hit the floor with a THUMP! and as tired as she was from trying to fly so much, Harmony only curled up on the floor and fell asleep like that. She wasn't any Peter Pan, but it was a start. Maybe tomorrow night she could---yawn.

"Alec went missing last night." Melody said at breakfast, sighing as Harmony raised her brows and looked to her parents who sighed but nodded sadly to their daughter.

"Missing....?" Harmony asked, looking at both her parents who were sure to know something about this. Already breakfast and Melody knew the local gossip...wow, that must be a Guiness world record.

"Apparently he took out his father's boat last night, without anyone knowing, and didn't come back." Eric explained as his hand pushed back his black hair and he sighed. He definitely knew what that boy's parents were feeling right now, Harmony had been missing for _years_ and not a trace of her was ever found.

"Hope he drowned." Harmony muttered, and both her parents gasped in surprise as Melody frowned at her sister. What? She'd only said the truth. The idiot had ganged up on her because she wouldn't kiss him! What was she supposed to think?!

"Harmony! That's an awful thing to say." Ariel admonished her teenage daughter, her frown menacing. "His parents are probably worried about him!"

"Yeah well, I'm worried that him and his goons will try to gang up on me again." Harmony muttered under her breath, low enough that she knew her parents couldn't hear her. "I'm going to the beach, 'k?" Harmony didn't wait for an answer as she skipped out to the beach, leaving her parents behind to be worried and disapproving.

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**What does this chapter have to do with anything, and will Harmony's happiness last?! Go find out in chapter 11!**

**REVIEW!**


	11. Chapter 11

"_Akhet meonoe weoite menamu acutea yoite hashete bardema."_

Harmony read the spell exactly as she saw it in the book, and nearly seconds later, there was a chocolate bar in her hands. Smiling triumphantly at the bar, she ripped the wrapper off, letting it disappear and ate the chocolate. The spell was right; chocolate _did_ taste better under water!

Chewing on the chocolate in her mouth, Harmony wondered about what the time was. Probably nearing lunch, she'd been here for hours! Sighing, Harmony got up, with the spell book under her arm of course, and she started to swim towards the exit of the cave.

She looked up at the surface for a moment, before deciding she could afford to be a few minutes late to lunch, and just started to swim in no exact direction. Just for kicks---or whatever it was called under water---she swam as fast as she could, farther than she'd ever gone in the sea with her magic powers.

She didn't notice when she swam through the gates of Atlantica, she just kept swimming as fast as she could, never out of breathe, and always laughing as she looked behind her to see the shocked expressions of the merpeople she'd just passed moments ago.

"Is that...._Harmony_?!" Triton looked up as he heard Attina exclaim and saw.....a red head with a sky blue tail zoom in and out of the market place. With raised brows, he musingly watched as the girl kept laughing and looking behind her at how fast she was going. Oh she was definitely Ariel's daughter.

Harmony laughed again as she saw how people were just staring at her, and then shaking their heads. She still wasn't out of breath, but she was definitely smiling as her eyes shone. Without looking forward fast enough she managed to crash into something....hard.

"Ow, okay, that was my head." Harmony winced, backing away from whatever she'd just crashed into as she put her palm on the smarting spot on her forehead. Wincing again, she looked up to see what she'd crashed into, thinking it was a rock. It wasn't. It was her Grandfather who was having a hard time repress his smile and Attina who was looking down at her fins, trying hard not to laugh.

"Hello Harmony." Triton said, smiling as his granddaughter's eyes became wide and alarmed at crashing into someone. He noticed how her bottom lip was swelled some, and how she had a black eye, but ignored it as he saw her face flush the exact shade of her hair, and she nervously gave him a small wave.

"He he....hi. Bye!" Harmony said, and in seconds she was swimming as fast as her fins could carry her, faster than fast, leaving a musing grandfather behind and a aunt that couldn't help but laugh.

"I'll make sure she gets home." Attina laughed to her father, swimming after Harmony. For a teen, that girl could swim _fast_! No, not for a teen, for anyone. Instead of sea horse racing, they should put that girl in the arena and see how many laps she could do before she finally slowed down to a normal speed.

Attina followed the girl as she swam out of Atlantica, and to....well, Attina was sure the girl had no idea where she was going, but she was swimming to Skeleton's Graveyard. Shuddering at the thought of it, Attina tried calling out to the girl, but she was too far ahead to hear. Letting out a breath, and shaking her head with a half smile at how much déjà vu this brought back, she followed her into the graveyard.

"Where _am_ I?" Harmony asked herself softly, as she kept swimming slowly through the dark and scary place. This is the part of the movie when the pretty blonde goes the wrong way and something jumps out and attacks her. Shuddering, Harmony rubbed her arms before thinking _fire_, and warming her entire body.

"Harmony!" Attina called out, as she swam closer to the girl. Either the girl was deaf, or she was choosing to ignore her. The first one seemed the most likely. Trying again, now that she was closer, Attina called out her name, and the girl whipped around....and stopped in her tracks. But her gaze wasn't focused on Attina, oh no, it was focused on something so much worse that the fire in her hand vanished because of the fear in her heart.

There was a human boy, probably no older than herself, with movie star blonde hair. His skin had yet to deteriorate because he probably hadn't been on the bottom of the sea for that long. But Harmony wished it had deteriorated so she wouldn't recognize who this was.

One of his eyes was already being attacked, and eaten by tiny sea creatures that were no bigger than her pinky nail. His mouth was open in a scream that wouldn't be heard under the water, showing his movie star white teeth that gleamed, even now as he lay motionless. The other eye that hadn't been attacked yet was open with a heart wrenching feared look in it. His face was twisted into a horrified expression, and one of his hands was over his heart, as if he'd been in cardiac arrest (funny how she remembered that from the news channels) and the other arm lay at a...not even awkward angle. It was as if there were no bones in it, that's how bad it looked. And his legs...both were just _there_, not even looking semi normal.

Thinking back to the day prior, when she and John had joked about the boy drowning and dying, she remembered how well she pictured it in her mind. How she thought he'd look like on the bottom of the sea, with mangled legs and a useless arm. How his hair would fall just over his eye...just like he was here in front of her. How he'd be dead and she'd never get hurt by him again. How her life would go on because he couldn't hurt her anymore.

She remembered how her powers had just naturally come up at the festering rage she felt for this boy, and how she had wished he _had_ drowned. Harmony's own expression twisted into one of horror as her face paled and her heart couldn't stop beating fast. She'd done it. She'd done it, her mind kept repeating.

She'd _killed_ Alec.

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**Oh. Shit. No jokes in this authors note, just....well, how else can you describe this chapter besides 'Holy----" **


	12. Chapter 12

"No...NO!" Harmony was shaking violently as started to sob. Whirling around to stop looking at Alec's tortured face, she saw anther skull and bones, skin still on it somewhat as the creatures ate at it. She could see it in her eyes every time she turned around, skulls a dime a dozen, bones scattered along the ground. Every one of these were people.....she was surrounded by the dead. Her eyes were filled with the images of their horrible deaths, the blood mixing into the sea, ships being broken in half as the waves carelessly tossed them to their deaths. People with lives...yes some pirates, who'd killed and revenged...but they were still people. People.... skulls....bones....everywhere....everywhere....Harmony almost didn't notice the warm arms hugging her.

"Harmony, you shouldn't be here." Attina's quiet voice said, and she felt the girl nod against her, the sobs stuck in her throat. "Here, I'll take you back home. Your parents are probably frantic by now." Attina said in a still quiet voice as Harmony nodded again, words....sobs....everything just stuck in her throat.

Grabbing the girl's hand, Attina gently swam with her up to the surface to meet....a frantic Ariel. The sky was already dark, as if it was late at night, when in truth it couldn't be more than 6:00. Must be a storm coming in, Attina thought to herself musingly, feeling bad for Ariel. She'd never actually been in a storm...but she knew plenty about them.

"Harmony! Where have you been?! We were---what happened?" Ariel's stopped short as she saw Harmony's tortured blue eyes. Ariel was in waist deep water in seconds, reaching out a gentle hand to Harmony, who instead of taking it, swam to her mother and broke down in sobs, hugging her. "Don't cry sweetheart, your okay now. Everything is fine." Ariel soothed as she stroked her daughter's red hair in an effort to calm her down. Looking up, she saw Attina's grim expression, which she met by a questioning one

"She swam to Skeleton's Graveyard unknowingly." Attina's soft voice said, as Ariel's eyes grew wide. Not Skeleton's Graveyard. Even _she_ knew to keep away from there in her youth. That's when she noticed the book tightly held in Harmony's hands, and her tail.

"Harmony, how are you a mermaid?" Ariel asked, but when as she got was sobbing, she decided to look into it herself. Gently taking the book out of her daughter's fingers, she looked at the front cover and frowned...until realization donned on her.

"Ursula's Spellbook." Ariel's voice whispered, as Attina looked up at her sister and frowned. Taking the book as Ariel handed it to her; she started to flip through it....only to find everything written in Atlantican, instead of English. Atlantican had stopped being the official language of Atlantica hundreds of years ago...about 700 if Attina's history was correct. Ursula, when she had stolen the Spellbook, must have figured out a way to read Atlantican.

"I'll give this back to Daddy, for safe keeping, so it doesn't end up in the wrong hands again." Attina said to her younger sister, as Ariel nodded, liking the idea. What they didn't know is that Harmony had heard them, and she turned around and shook her head at her Aunt.

"T-that's m-my book. F-Finders Keepers." She said in a cracked voice, sniffling as tears still ran down her face. Attina gave her niece a sorry half smile, before placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry Harmony, but this isn't part of a kid's game. This is a serious book; I have to give it to your grandfather." Attina said with that still sorry half smile, but Harmony only shook her head as hard as she could.

"K-kid's games d-don't end up w-with dead p-p-people." Harmony cracked voice managed to stutter out, as she snatched the book from her Aunt's fingers, and opened it so she could read it aloud.

"Harmony!" Ariel's voice admonished, but Harmony didn't care as she flipped the pages and put her finger under a word so she could follow the sentence.

"_Metaku wonequ achu _

_Metakie wandeka s-siemia _

_Laygoe eretyu hachatu."_

Harmony's voice was no more than a whisper, but in seconds she was back as a human girl, her shells replaced by the top of her dress, her fins making way for bare feet and toes that wiggled, finally back and happy. Ariel and Attina watched with stunned eyes as she saw her daughter's and her niece's shells disappear, and the girl's feet were firmly planted in the water, so instead of floating she was standing.

"Ariel....your daughter's a witch." Attina's soft voice said, stunned and shocked, but she said those words anyway as Ariel's eyes grew wide. There was no mistaking Harmony's powers, because no other girl would know how to read Atlantican or use the spell.

"I'll need to tell Daddy....Harmony; can you please let me give your grandfather the Spellbook, just for now, so he can keep it safe for you?" Attina's gentle voice asked, as her niece saw the pleading in her eyes, and nodded, as Attina smiled softly, and took back the book.

"Thanks." Attina said, flashing a grateful smile to her niece as the girl barely nodded back, because first she was exhausted, and second, she was still tortured by what she'd seen. "How soon can she come to Atlantica so she can talk to Daddy?" Attina asked Ariel directly, knowing that a mother always set the limits on everything.

"By Friday." Ariel's firm voice said as Attina nodded. It was Monday today...but Harmony would need time to tell her family everything, and forget about what she'd seen in the graveyard full of dead humans.

"Alright. Bye Harmony. Bye Ariel." Attina said as Ariel gave her a small nod as if to say her goodbye's too. She couldn't speak right now....she just couldn't! Her daughter was a witch! How was she supposed to handle this? Know what to do?!

"Mom...it was so scary." Harmony whimpered as she hugged her mother tightly, sobbing.

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**So, how will Ariel react to the fact her daughter's a witch? How will Harmony hold up with the knowlege that she's killed a boy...what will Melody have to say about Alec being dead, her former crush....or is he? And Eric, a normal human man who marries into a family of weird things...how is he going to deal witht the fact that Harmony is a witch? All in good time, child, all in good time. **

**And if u think i'm mean for not posting another chapter tongight because it's 4:00 in the morning and im tired, remember that i post new chapters EVERYDAY so that you can read a story without having to wait so long! **

**REVIEW! I want to know what you think about Harmony killing a boy, about Skeletion's Graveyard (which is, if you haven't guessed, where alot of ships have sank before that's why there are bones everywhere) Attina, King Triton....everything, and i don't mind some constructive critiscim because it really does help improve my story. **

**Ta ta for now!**


	13. Chapter 13

"Sweetheart what happened?" Ariel asked in a gentle tone, as Harmony was sitting on the couch next to her. She'd made sure her daughter had taken a warm bath, and now she was in her nightgown, with a blanket over her shoulders as her knees were pressed up against her chest. At least she wasn't sobbing....but she seemed tortured by something. Then again, going to Skeleton's Graveyard would make anyone scared. Ariel had only heard stories about it when she was younger, but that was all she needed to know to never go _there_.

"W-We were just joking. I-it wasn't supposed to happen...I didn't m-mean to...." Harmony said, wincing but keeping the sobs in her throat as her family was around her. What was she supposed to say? That she'd killed a boy?! That he'd never be able to go home because she'd killed him?!

"What wasn't supposed to happen?" Eric asked gently, and Harmony bit her lip, not meeting anyone's gazes at her. They'd been worried when she hadn't shown up for lunch, but had just thought that she lost track of time. But when dinner came 'round and she still didn't show up....that made them anxious and nervous not knowing where she was.

"A-A-Alec." Harmony whispered, as she buried her head in her knees, willing herself not to cry. Murderer, she was a murderer. She'd killed Morgana, but that had been nothing to concern herself over because she had her eyes closed and she could pretend that the lady had tripped. But Alec...

"What about Alec?" Melody pressed her voice anxious to know about her crush. He'd been an ass, hurt her sister, but somehow she still was crushing on him. Besides, everyone made mistakes.

"Harmony, we can't help you if you won't tell us everything." Ariel said softly to not alarm the girl. Letting her slender fingers travel through the knots of her own red hair, Ariel closed her eyes and sighed. Witch. Of all things to happen to her family, this just had to happen. Of course it did.

"E-everything?" Harmony whispered, looking up with glassy eyes at her mother who nodded and gave her a small smile, to let her talk about what happened. Taking in a breath, Harmony started to explain.

She started at the beginning of the tale, how she'd been walking along the beach, thinking of her brother, when suddenly he'd appeared. She explained how she'd started to realize then that she had a special power, and after talking to Ariel, it was confirmed. She said how at night she'd been going back to Nebraska, to the fair and when she went to her room....and how she'd been a mermaid. She told about how she went to a cave that was weirdly shaped, and how she found the spell book in there, and how she could read it perfectly. She left out the parts with John in them though, knowing how parents could be when a girl and boy were together. Then she explained everything about Alec. There was a silence in the room when she finished her tale, and Melody was the first to break it.

"You killed Alec?! Why would you do that?! You're a murderer!! You should be locked up in jail! You killed him because he beat you up, oh that's wonderful Harmony, really wonderful. So what, if I tell you you're a bitch, you'll kill me too?! Huh?! URGH! I can't believe this!" Melody shouted, and Harmony whimpered, hugging her knees closer to her chest. Her eyes became glassier, and her bottom lip started to quiver, but she didn't let a tear fall from her face.

"I-It was an accident. I-I d-didn't m-mean t-to." Harmony whispered, as her shoulder's shook, but she still didn't cry. She looked up to her parents, to see if they would at least tell Melody to be quiet....but they barely acknowledged her existence right now.

"I'm---I'm going to---" Ariel couldn't even finish her sentence as shocked as she was. Melody was right. Harmony was a murderer...but she couldn't lock her own daughter up! But it's what would happen to anyone else; a little voice in her mind told her. Looking up at Eric, she gave him a small nod to say what they were both thinking.

"Melody, take your sister to the dungeon. Please. Now." Eric's command shocked Harmony, as she looked up at her father to see....just his blank expression. Nothing. So, that's what they were going to do to her. She looked at her mother as her head shook with fear, but her mother wasn't even looking at her. Her eyes were trained on the far wall of the room as she felt Melody grab her wrist tightly, letting her nails dig into her sister's skin to show that anything she'd felt for this girl was long gone.

She barely felt the pain of the nails in her skin. She barely saw anyone give her tears and Melody's dragging her strange looks. She barely felt the internal pain of Melody kicking her as hard as the girl could into the cell, and locking it before sneering at her and walking away. She barely smelled the dampness or felt the coldness in this place. She barely saw how awful her circumstances were.

And she knew no one but she heard her sobs.

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**If your not crying, than you definitely don't care about Harmony, 'cause i am. How could they do that?! To their own daughter?! And Melody, with all the crap she's done to Harmony, how could she not even stick up for her in her time of need?! ****Ah, all the questions shall be answered soon. **

**Review this chapter. **


	14. Chapter 14

"Eric." Ariel faint voice said as she brushed the tears from her own eyes. Lying down in her warm bed, with Eric next to her, she had always felt better. But she couldn't right now, not after what she'd just done. She felt safe in bed with Eric, always warm, comfortable...she wondered how Harmony felt, all alone in that dungeon, cold, scared, unknowing.

"I know Ariel." Eric answered back as he brushed his own tears away. They'd just sent their own daughter to _jail_, their fourteen year old daughter whom when she was born, they swore to always love and protect her. Well, they were doing a horrible job of it. But what could they honestly do?

"We should let her at least sleep in her own room." Ariel said, sitting up and throwing her feet over the side of the bed to get up. A gentle, but firm hand was placed on her wrist pulling her back into bed.

"Ariel, you know that's what I would want to do, _**if**_ we could. She _killed_ someone Ariel, **killed**. You know what the law is. If we make acceptations for her---" Eric didn't even want to think about that law now, but what was he supposed to do? The law said if you murder someone that the punishment was death. Death to a fourteen year old girl. Death. She'd never even be able to grow up into an adult because she'd have to die at fourteen. And by tomorrow everyone would know about what she'd done, because for sure there had been ears pressed against the study door, and Harmony would have to die.

"Oh Eric. I just don't want her to die! She's so young." Ariel sobbed, hugging onto the warm body of her husband. It still haunted her when she was holding Harmony's limp body, thinking she was dead, that memory still haunted her. Her daughter, her baby, how could this have happened?

"It's not any easier for me Ariel." Eric whispered, hugging onto Ariel's sobbing form as he let his own tears fall. Harmony was going to die in a few days, and the worst part, he couldn't stop it.

"Crap." Melody whispered into the still night. Her nightgown swayed in the breeze as she walked along the shore line, thinking about everything that just happened. Harmony was _her_ age, her twin, her sister....and she was going to die. It just...didn't seem fair. But it was, her mind told her. A life for a life, that was the law.

She'd killed Alec....and in a few days, she'd be gone. As if she'd never walked on this earth. All gone. Murderers shouldn't be allowed on this earth anyway, so in a way this is good, her mind told her in effort to cheer her up.

She isn't a murderer. What? She isn't a murderer, that little voice in her head repeated. She's a teenage girl that had no idea what her powers were capable of...and she'd still have to die. To die at fourteen. She was Melody's age, her twin, her sister, and she'd have to die when she was only still barely a teen. Then again Alec had only been fourteen and she'd killed him.

Why had she been such a bitch to Harmony when she lead her to the dungeon? Why hadn't she stuck up for her sister instead of already doing what her parents told her? Was she that much of a **bitch**?No, it was because she killed Alec, her one and only crush, her mind told her instantly, but again, the little voice in the back of her head had to speak up.

Alec was going to hurt you, and she pushed you out of the way so that she'd be the only one getting hurt, for your mistake, the voice said, and Melody's memory traveled back to that day.

Her and Harmony were circled around, and boys kept pressing up against Harmony, trying to get a kiss. She remembered...that look on Alec's face. That total look that he was going to hurt her and Harmony. She remembered how Harmony suddenly pushed her out of the tight circle, and got beat while she helplessly did nothing but watch.

But that was just a fight, this wasn't a fight. This was murder, her mind told her. Murder was not accepted, and the law stated that she'd have to die for killing someone, no matter if it was accidental. But if that was the law....why did she feel so bad about it?

"It's not **fair**!" Harmony said, throwing herself against the wall angrily. Her head connected against the wall with a SMACK! and she felt the warm blood dripping onto her nightgown. She didn't care. She felt the aching pain from her forehead to please, please stop it. She didn't.

"It's not **fair**!" Harmony said again as she ran to the other wall and threw herself against it. This time her arms went out in front of her head so that she wouldn't hurt her head anymore. Instead, she felt scrapes all along her arms, stinging from the impact. She still didn't care.

"It's not **fair**, it's not fair, it's not **fair**, it's not **fair**!" She said, throwing herself continually against the walls continually until the skin on her arms was almost all off. Then, as she threw herself at the wall one last time, she broke down into sobs and slid down to the floor.

How could they do this to her? Whatever happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'? Did the justice system here not matter whatsoever? Yes, she killed him, but it was an accident!! And she didn't know how strong her powers were, she didn't know anything about them besides that she was cursed with them. Why were they suddenly so cold towards her? What, it's okay to love me when I'm cutting myself, but as soon as I confess to accidently killing someone...you just send me to jail? You don't even stick up for me like a family should!

All these powers had brought her were misery and untold woe. She'd killed Morgana with them, killed Alec, and now, she knew that they would probably kill her too. She probably could escape from this jail cell if she wanted to....but she wasn't. Her powers were sentencing her to death, so she wasn't going to use them ever again. If all they brought were pain, then if she didn't use them, she'd be out of pain...hopefully. She could not use her powers anymore, that would be easy. But knowing that she was going to die...that didn't put her at any ease. With her arms awkwardly used as a pillow, her body curled in a fetal position on the cold stone floor, and a stomach that begged for food she fell asleep.

She dreamt of a tombstone....with her name on it.


	15. Chapter 15

"One is the loneliest number, right rock?" Harmony said with a bitter laugh to a rock in her cell before kicking it away from her. The sun from her tiny window said that it was at least noon. She hadn't eaten since breakfast of the day prior, and that had been barely anything. She'd eaten a few bites of it, saying to herself she'd eat more for lunch. Well, now that she was all alone, lunch seemed like a perfect idea. But wait, she was locked up all alone in jail, and prisoners didn't get lunch.

She'd never minded being alone when she was younger. It always gave her time to think, analyze....but she'd always known that the minute she didn't want to be alone anymore she could run to her parents and they'd be there for her. As the tears started to fill her vision again, she trained her thoughts on something else.

She remembered all the times she'd wished for another life, or wondered what life would be like if she wasn't Kathy. Well, it happened, and look at where it had ended her, _again_. With a sister that hated her, and parents that could care less about her, and being locked in a jail cell. Yeah, this was the meaning of a new life.

With nothing to do, the crushing boredom was almost too much for her to bear. It was like that the entire day. She knew she was running a fever because her cuts were probably infected. She knew that it would be easy to escape her jail cell...but she couldn't. As the hours crept by, Harmony went from pacing the cell walls, to throwing the rock at it, to trying to karate chop her way through the steel bars, like James Bond could. She only ended up with an aching hand.

"Mom....about Harmony....she's going to die isn't she." It wasn't a question from Melody's lips, everyone knew it. Ariel didn't even pretend to be surprised at the question, because she knew that Melody had probably figured it out by now. It was all over the village now, that somehow Harmony had killed Alec, and she was in the castle dungeons. It was the hottest gossip subject, and also the best one for rumors.

"Talk about something else Melody, please." Ariel's gentle command rang out, but Melody didn't feel like talking about anything else. She wanted her sister back...no matter what happened, she wanted her sister back.

Dinner was spent in a cold, stony silence, just like breakfast and lunch before it. Everyone trying to keep up an act as though everything was fine all day...but they could all see through one another easily. It's just that they didn't care. Their faces might have had forced smiles, and conversation's throughout the day were basically about the weather....but it wasn't hard to tell what they were thinking. Every one of their thoughts were focused on Harmony...and how in a few days time, she'd be dead.

Looking out the window every five seconds had Harmony's eyes tiring. But she pushed past that and kept awake, and finally it turned to night....but it's not like Harmony had anywhere to go. She wasn't tired anymore, she was sick, she was undeniably scared, she was hurt...just a few days ago she'd sung of how great her life was. But now she had a different tune in her heart.

"_I woke up it was 7  
I waited till 11  
Just to figure out that no one would call  
I thought I had a family but I don't hear from them  
What's another night all alone?  
When your spending everyday on your own  
And here it goes_

_I'm just a kid and life is a nightmare  
I'm just a kid, I know that it's not fair  
Nobody cares, cause I'm alone and the world is  
Just out there to mock me_

_And maybe when the night is dead, I'll crawl up in a ball  
Staring at these 4 walls again  
I'll try to think about the last time, I had a good time  
Everyone's got somewhere to go  
And they're gonna leave me here to die all alone and here it goes_

_I'm just a kid and life is a nightmare  
I'm just a kid, I know that its not fair  
Nobody cares, cause I'm alone and the world is  
Just out there to mock me_

Wiping the tears that had formed in her eyes, Harmony bit her lip as she closed her eyes for a moment, wishing it all away. Her predicament, Alec's death, her own future death...and when she reopened her eyes, she almost had her eyes pop out of her head.

She had, in her hands....the Spellbook.


	16. Chapter 16

No, absolutely not. She wasn't going to use this Spellbook! She could care less if it had shown up in her hands; she wasn't going to use it! She had sworn she'd never use her powers again, they only brought misery. But the book had come to her fingers....maybe she should at least look into to it, you know, see if it was alright and all that jazz.

Flipping the book open on her lap, Harmony started flipping through the pages, looking for a spell about death. Maybe there was some way she could bring back Alec....maybe. But all the spells had nothing to do with death, except a passing phrase or so about 'how in the wrong hands this spell could be fatal'. There was nothing really in here that she could us---wait! Hold up! Flipping a page backward, Harmony looked at the title of this spell.

"Trading Death". She read aloud, only in Atlantican because her translating skills were probably horrible. But it seemed like a good enough spell to start with. Huddling over the spell she began to read.

"This spell allows you to trade a life for a life. You may bring back one person from their death, but you must trade another's soul for it, causing their own death. This spell must only be used in the direst circumstances." Harmony read aloud, in Atlantican to herself. Looking around, dire seemed to be the right word around here.

But whose life could she trade for Alec's? Not that he deserved anyone's life, but that would make Harmony free from jail. No one, her mind said bitterly as she kept reading on. She'd have to have the person there with her when she said this spell, otherwise it was completely useless. Unless.....no, she couldn't! Well....maybe she could. With heart stopping fear filling in veins, Harmony bit her lip and nodded, coming to a conclusion of whose life to trade.

Using her magic, she managed to get a paper and pen to write out a letter, because after this spell was spoken she'd be long gone from this place. Writing out the letter as best she could in her chicken scratch for handwriting, she kept writing it out until finally, she finished and sealed in an envelope, addressed to Ariel, Eric, and Melody. They'd find it soon enough.

Closing her eyes for a moment to soothe her pounding head, she reopened her eyes and she was all business. Setting the book in front of her, she took a final breathe before beginning the spell.

"_Aktehu meliea tiuwean _

_igaite meleka naman acowe _

_yecutk begraine Alec aewe Hathieme_!"

Harmony spoke the words clearly, and suddenly when she closed her eyes she felt a powerful wind all around the cell, biting at her. She bit her lip and kept steady, trying not to freak out as she felt herself being pulled this way and that way. She felt something inside her just vanish then....the guilt. Alec was going to live, she wasn't a murderer. When the wind finally stopped, she fell to the floor of the cave, and closed her eyes.

"Mother!" Melody's voice cried out the next day, around noon as she came running full speed to the ballroom, knowing her mother would probably be there because of the Halloween Ball preparations that would be in a day. Oh Melody knew how much her mother would hate to go on with the ball, all things considering, but as Queen she had to put on a show to make it seem as though everything was alright. Well, it would be after this. "Moth--oomph!" Melody crashed into someone as she quickly sat up and rubbed her head.

"Melody! What's gotten into you?" Ariel admonished, her usual smile replaced by a frown. It seemed as though that's all she did these days, just frown. But looking up at that glow around Melody's face, she immediately grew suspicious.

"Mother! Okay, so I was at the beach and you'll never guess who I saw! Alec! He's alive mother! Harmony didn't kill him! He's alive, I swear!" Melody said out of breath as she stood up quickly, about to run to the dungeon to release Harmony, when Ariel put a death hold grip on her shoulder.

"Melody, you didn't really see him. I know your lying." Ariel's soft voice didn't match with her death grip on the girl's shoulder, but Melody was too happy for that to matter to her right now.

"Mother, you know I can't lie! I'm awful at it, Harmony's the only good liar! Please mother, you have to believe me! I swear it! I asked everyone and they said that he came back home last night! It turns out he had just played a joke on everyone, he didn't really drown! Come on!" Melody said, turning to go again but Ariel's grip on her daughter's shoulder only grew tighter.

"Are you sure?" Ariel's soft voice asked as Melody nodded furiously, and Ariel closed her eyes and sighed in relief. A joke. That's all it had been, a joke. Harmony had probably just played along with it, that's all. "Go tell your father, okay?" Ariel said to Melody who quickly shook her head in a yes fashion before running off.

"Harmony, Harmony honey come out! It was all just a joke, you didn't kill him. Harmony! Oh wake up!" Ariel laughed as her daughter was sprawled on the cold floor. She kneeled down started shaking the girl awake.....but Harmony refused to wake up from this. Getting a little annoyed, Ariel tried shaking her a little harder, and Harmony finally turned over....but it wasn't from sleep.

Ariel's mouth was covered by her hand as she started to shake violently, scared of what this looked like. Shaking still, she put her hand on Harmony's scraped up arm for a moment only to realize her worst, fear.

Harmony was dead.


	17. Chapter 17

"No....No!" Ariel gasped as she stood up, her hand over her mouth as she thought of it. Shaking from fear, guilt, sadness....everything her eyes were wide as she stared at the body on the floor. No....no...dead...no...no....dead...still shaking violently, she started to run, as if she was still a child. She ignored the looks she got from the servants as she just ran, to where? She didn't know, but she knew she just had to run. The words echoed in her mind, as she kept trying to block out Harmony's face.....and then her body just laying there. She kept running through the palace, her feet just going....and suddenly she was being held tightly.

Strong, warm arms were keeping her in place, Ariel vaguely noticed as she buried her head into his chest and sobbed. Harmony---dead---jail---dead---body---dead. Everything was spinning so fast now, she could barely hold onto Eric as she sobbed into his strong chest, and he held her tightly in his arms.

"Love, what's wrong?" Eric asked gently, as Ariel sobbed in his chest, staining his shirt with her tears. He could care less about his shirt though, because _Ariel_, his love, his world, his wife was crying. No, not crying. Heart wrenching sobs of pain and untold anguish, that's what she was doing.

"H-H-Harmony." Ariel managed to whisper, as she clutched onto Eric's shirt tightly, trying hard to keep it all together. No, keep it all together was gone when she saw the body of her own baby, on the floor a jail cell....dead. Keep it all together wasn't an option anymore.

"What about Harmony?" Eric asked in a still gentle tone, holding onto Ariel tightly as she burrowed her face into his chest and kept sobbing. He held her without question, letting her cry until she'd run out of tears to cry, and now she was just trying to keep breathing normally.

"H-Harmony. I-I went t-to let h-her out....and s-she w-wouldn't wake up." Ariel shook as her voice took on another octave as she said 'wake up'. The girl was dead, dead at fourteen. They would have figured someway for her to not die because of what she did, they would have made an acceptation for her. But now...she didn't even get a chance to talk again. She died in a lonely, dark, cold, dirty jail cell, away from anyone who'd ever loved her.

"She's probably just a heavy sleeper Ariel." Eric said to soothe his wife, but he knew it wasn't true. Ariel wasn't an idiot, she knew when someone was actually alive, and then dead. She knew. Harmony was....just gone. Gone without a goodbye, or without a smile. The last he'd seen her she'd been in tears, her eyes asking him the question, why? Why would you lock me up? Why won't you accept me? Why? Why?

"N-N-No Eric, I saw her. S-She's g-g-gone." Ariel whispered, holding onto Eric for support as she felt her knees almost collapse on her. Eric held onto her tightly, not letting her go for fear she'd hurt herself....and then he saw her. She fainted. Her body went limp in his arms, as he only scooped her up as if she weighed no more than a pound, and gently set her on their bed before going to the dungeon to see for himself.

"She left a note, you know. Explaining everything." Melody's soft voice said as she heard her father come into the dungeons. Shutting her eyes tightly to get Harmony's body out of her mind, as she was sitting facing away from the girl, Melody started to read the note to her father.

_"Dear everyone, _

_If you're reading this, I'm dead. Funny how cool that sounds on paper, but when you see my body it's not so cool. Anyway, I thought I owed you an explanation as to why I'm dead, though you could probably care less._

_I found a spell in the Spellbook, (don't ask how I got the SpellBook) that was called Trading Death. It turns out that if you trade a living person's life, for a dead person they'll manage to survive with your soul, but you'll die. I didn't want to use anyone else but me for this spell, because I'm the one who created the problem, so I'll fix it by dying. Alec by now is probably alive and at home with his parents, telling everyone it was all a joke, that he wasn't really dead._ _The spell brainwashed him into thinking so. I was going to die anyway for killing him, so in a way, I'm only finishing what was started. _

_My only last request is that somehow you find a way to tell my adoptive parents, and my brother...they'll tell my friends in Nebraska and finally it will be some closure for them. I know you guys probably aren't going to do this, and I know that this note will probably end up in the trash, because honestly, who wants to be the parents or sibling of a murderer? I just thought I'd ask you as, you know, a dead person. But if you don't do it that's cool...I wasn't worth the trouble anyway. _

_Sorry for hurting you, _

_Kathy/Harmony_

"W-Why would she say that?" Eric tried hard to keep his voice from cracking, but it was hard to do all things considering. His own daughter....dead...he'd had her locked in jail and she'd died that way, alone and scared in a jail cell.

"Because we had her locked in a jail cell, I was a bitch to her, Mom wouldn't even look at her, and you were the one who told me to keep her in a jail cell, away from everyone. What else was she supposed to think besides her family abandoned her?" Melody asked with a bitter laugh, shaking her head. A few days ago she'd basically kicked the girl when she was down, and now she'd do all she could to take it back. "What are you doing?" Melody asked, as she saw her father pick up Harmony in his arms.

"She's still part of our family, so I'm taking her to her room....tomorrow we'll see about....everything." Eric said, in a voice softer than any he'd ever spoken in as he walked with Harmony in his arms to her room, Melody at his heels until she got to Harmony's room. There she retreated to her own to grieve in private for what she'd done.

Placing Harmony on the sheets of the bed, Eric went back to his own room with Ariel...and his own tears finally came for what he'd done to that girl. No, not that girl, his girl. His Harmony.

* * *

**So, okay let me do disclaimer time. I own nothing but Harmony. The song in chapter 15 was 'I'm just a Kid' by Simple Plan, it's not mine, sadly. And i'll post another chapter tonight, don't worry, i won't torture you any longer!**


	18. Chapter 18

_"Where am I?" Harmony found herself asking as she sat up, looking around the room. Everything was just....white. Like an endless hall of blankness. Was this heaven? Was this hell? Was this what really happened in the afterlife? Nothing seemed to make sense to her right now. _

_"In another world, Child." A sweet, almost tantalizing voice said, as Harmony looked up, confused. There was this....mermaid just floating her front of her, a robe she had on flowing out from her body. Her tail was silver, glowing faintly from the white radiance that surrounded her, and her face was just....like she'd seen it before, but she couldn't place where. _

_"Okay then, _why_ am I here? And who are you?" Harmony wondered, as the woman before her laughed softly, her laugh flowing through Harmony's body as the girl looked up at tried to picture where she knew this woman from. Nebraska? No....not there...but somewhere. _

_"I, dear child, am Amaranth. I am the one who lives in you, who gives you your special power." Amaranth? What kind of a name was that? Who named their kid 'Amaranth'?_

_"You're the witch you created the trident aren't you?" Harmony said, her voice in awe as Amaranth nodded her head ever so slightly with a smile. "You can take your special powers back now, you know. Really, all they ever caused me were pain. My family won't accept me, I killed a boy, and I was locked up in jail. Now that I'm dead, take your power back so that I don't have to live with it anymore. Please." Harmony pleaded with Amaranth, who frowned at her words before extending a hand to the left of her. Almost suddenly a small glowing ball appeared in the air, and as the ball extended Harmony's eyes went wide. _

_It was like a movie theatre screen, except a lot smaller. It showed an image that was blurry for a moment, until Harmony blinked and it became a lot clearer to her. In the screen were....her parents? Eric was holding Ariel as she sobbed against him, tears falling down his own face. Why were they crying? The image flashed and now it showed....Melody? What was she doing? Was she having a break down? _

_"Your family is grieving for the loss of your life." Amaranth's voice pulled Harmony out of her state as she looked up at the woman, shaking her head as she did so. _

_"I don't understand. Why would they be sad I'm dead? Isn't it a relief to them that since I'm dead I can't hurt them with my powers?" Harmony said, and Amaranth frowned again, before extending out her left hand and retracting the screen so that it was just a ball of light again. _

_"You never hurt anyone purposely with your powers. Your young, your power has yet to be contained." Amaranth stated, but Harmony only shook her head and sighed, sitting cross legged on the floor of this place. _

_"But I don't understand. Why would you choose me to have magical abilities if I can't even control them? What about Melody? She'd probably be a better witch than me!" Harmony said, and Amaranth slowly reached out a hand and placed it on the girl's shoulder. Harmony looked up, startled at the kind features of this witch in return. _

_"I choose you to carry my powers because you were the only child who was strong enough to do so. You understand the burden of love, and what it can to do one while Melody is still a child, and she does not understand. You know that bravery really is, while Melody has only an idea of what it can mean. You willingly gave up your own life for a boy who had harmed you in the past. Your strong will and loyal heart are what convinced me that you and you alone should carry my powers. And that is why I choose you." Amaranth said, and Harmony sighed nodding sadly. She understood what Amaranth was saying....but was she really all that? _

_"I'm sorry I let you down then." Harmony said, taking in a deep breath and trying hard not to cry. She was gone, she would never be able to go back....but she'd do it again if she could. Alec hadn't deserved to die at fourteen....even if he was a douche, he still didn't deserve to be taken away from his parents. _

_"You never let me down dear Child. If anything you proved to me that you were more deserving of these powers than I could have ever known." Amaranth started, looking into the blue eyes of this child before continuing. "To give your life for another who's hurt you before, even when they're not deserving of it, show's that while your powers are strong, your heart will always be stronger." Amaranth said, as she put her palm on the girl's head before reciting a spell._

"Keweda Mekaet Youwex Harmonei Asowen Quete Zaewope Uiteda Bowteake Uhouenay!"

_Harmony was lifted into the air, her body weightless as she felt the magic inside her nearly bust from everything. Closing her eyes, Harmony had no idea what was happening, but somehow she knew that it was good. Letting the air spin her around, she could just see, even though her eyes were closed, so many different colors....some she'd never even dreamed of! Everything was just spinning, the colors all there, Harmony tried to focus on breathing straight, just to keep breathing, just keep breathing...._

* * *

**wow. Review people! That's all i'm going to say cuz if i say more i'll give it away. **


	19. Chapter 19

The next thing she knew she was sitting up in her bed. So Amaranth had let her live...well that was nice of her. Too bad that death would feel better than how she felt. The scrapes in her arms had turned a violent red color, and she felt dizzy because of the gash on her forehead. Her stomach ached for some food, begging her to find the nearest Starbucks and eat all of the chocolate croissants. Shaking her head a bit dizzily, she got up to her feet.

Walking out of the room and yawning, because she was a bit tired, she stole a look at the clock in the hall. 8:00? Already? Damn, she'd been up the entire night! No wonder she was tired. She walked out to the ballroom, ignoring the stares and shocked whispers as she settled herself down at the piano. Without even thinking it, her fingers started to play on the keys like lightning, and she smiled tiredly at them. She didn't notice Melody slip into the ballroom with wide eyes as she started to sing softly.

"_I don't know what I want, so don't ask me  
Cause I'm still trying to figure it out  
Don't know what's down this road, I'm just walking  
Trying to see through the rain coming down  
Even though I'm not the only one  
Who feels the way I do_

_I'm alone, on my own, and that's all I know  
I'll be strong, I'll be wrong, oh but life goes on  
I'm just a girl, trying to find a place in  
This world" _

"Harmony!" Melody couldn't hold it in any longer as she ran to her sister, enveloping her in a bone crushing hug. "I thought you were dead! I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to be such a bitch..but I was just so mad and oh Harmony!" Melody said, hugging her sister tightly, but not noticing that Harmony wasn't hugging her back one bit.

"Melody? For goodness sake what's with all the---Harmony!" Ariel's voice gasped, but Harmony couldn't see her as she only felt herself being hugged even tighter by warm arms. She could hear everyone's voices at once, talking about how she was dead and how happy they were when finally, Harmony couldn't take it anymore and she just pushed them off of her.

"You think a hug is going to make up for what you guys did to me?! You fucking locked me in jail, and not one of you had the guts to even come down to see me. While all of you were sleeping in your nice warm beds _**I**_ was sleeping on the stone floor, and I was freezing and scared, and alone!" Harmony shouted at them, and all of their gazes fell to the floor, because they knew she was right.

"Honey---" Ariel was cut off by a bitter laugh, and she winced at how much acid there was in it. Harmony was right of course, no one had gone down to see her...and no one had even given her a blanket so she could block out the cold. She looked so thin....when was the last time she'd eaten? No one had thought to bring her a tray of food....or a new nightgown to replace the bloody one she had on right then.

"No, don't use that 'oh I'm so sorry honey' crap on me. Don't say 'we had to, for the greater good' or 'our hands were tied behind our backs, there was nothing we could do'. I'm not an idiot, so don't speak down to me like you think I'm one." Harmony started and she suddenly felt like she was going to pass out. "Go to hell." She managed to mutter, as she fell to the floor, weak from exhaustion of not eating, from the fever her infections had given her....from everything. The world was spinning now, but not in that cool colorful way. Everything moving so fast, she couldn't hear anybody talking...everything was just so....hard......

"Harmony, can you hear me? Harmony!" Ariel's voice cried out, as the girl just passed out completely. Sighing, Ariel turned to Eric with a pleading in her eyes as he nodded, sighing before he picked the girl up.

Harmony was right of course, they shouldn't have locked her up. She'd been alone, scared, cold....wow did that bring back memories. After her father destroyed her grotto....she'd felt the same way. But by nightfall she'd forgotten about it because she was a human. Harmony on the other hand spent three nights all alone with no one there to protect her, to hold her and tell her it'd all get better.

"I can't believe we did this to her." Ariel's soft voice broke the silence between her and Eric as she stroked her unconscious daughter's face. The girl had been changed into a clean nightgown, and her arms and head stitched up....maybe she should be focusing more on the fact that her daughter came back to life....but then again, she _was_ a witch. "We made mistakes before....but nothing this drastic." Ariel sighed as she tucked a loose strand of the girl's hair behind her ear.

"The worst part is that she was right. She's a fourteen year old girl, who was locked up in jail for something she had no idea how to control or stop." Eric said, closing his eyes a moment. The guilt was overwhelming, how she had no chance to explain herself. They had just jumped to conclusions....and she gave up her life so that Alec could live, even though he was the one who had hurt her.

"Do you think she'll ever forgive us?" Ariel knew the answer to her question, and she knew that Eric was going to say the wrong answer because he didn't want her sad....but she almost killed her daughter for a mistake that the girl was haunted by, that she was willing to die over. That made the answer what it really was.

"Do you want the truth or the lie?" Eric asked softly as Ariel bit her lip and closed her eyes, trying to keep the guilt and pain out. If her daughter ever forgave her for this it'd be....amazing. But the girl's own family had basically betrayed her....that really killed her on the inside.

"Truth." Ariel said, as she tried to keep her voice from cracking. She wasn't going to cry....she wasn't. She was going to be strong, and live with Harmony's decisions. She had to.

"No." Amazing how one word could have so much power, Eric thought to himself. No was just one word, to measly letters, and yet it could cause so much damage. As Ariel sobbed, running out of Harmony's room and probably to their own, Eric sighed and wished that the word 'no' had never existed.

* * *

**wow, so what is Harmony going to do when she wakes up? And i know, i probably made all of you a bit depressed when she died....but i had to do What will Triton have to say to her powers? and her familY? Can they deal with a witch? find out!**

**disclaimer: The song harmony sings is by Taylor Swift, called 'Place in this World.' i don't own it, either she or someother person does. Sorry ;(**


	20. Chapter 20

"Hm, what?" Harmony mumbled as she woke up, sitting up in her bed with her palm against her forehead because it was pounding. Looking out the window, it was already sunset....and then she felt herself gently being lowered back to the pillows.

"You passed out honey." Ariel murmured, and Harmony winced at how her voice made the throbbing in her head only get louder. "The doctor said it was from lack of eating....when _was_ the last time you ate?" Ariel's worried tones asked, as she pressed a cool cloth to her daughter's forehead so she could lower the girl's fever.

"Breakfast....four days ago. I would have eaten earlier, but gee whiz, I was locked in a dungeon." Harmony said with a bitter laugh, crossing her sore arms over each other before looking back out the window. "I'm just surprised you even cared enough to bring me to my room. Guess it doesn't matter if you do or not though, since I'll be far away from you guys in a few days." Harmony said with another acidic laugh, staring angrily out the window. Ariel sighed, as she let her fingers brush against Harmony's cheek. The girl flinched under her touch, and Ariel sighed again, wishing this had never happened.

"What are you talking about?" Ariel asked, her eyes almost falling asleep on her. Just talking to the teen drained away her energy...and in about an hour she'd need all the energy she could get. She'd wanted to cancel the ball, or at least postpone it to another day...but she couldn't. She was only going out for appearance sake though, nothing more.

"I'm going back home, to Nebraska." Harmony answered shortly, as Ariel's eyes grew wide and her motherly instinct kicked in. The girl had chosen to stay here! She couldn't go back! Things had gone a little to far...but everything would be alright in the end...right?

"Give me one good reason why you would want to leave your real family for your adopted one." Ariel asked, and Harmony finally looked at her. The hardness and fire in the girl's eyes was incredible! If Ariel had ever seen such a thing before....it was in herself, when she told her father she loved a human. Oh. Ouch.

"Ohana means family. And family means no one get's left behind...or forgotten. You just left me behind to rot in a dungeon, and then you forgot I was even there. You didn't even accept that I was a witch...you sent me to jail to pretend that I was a normal angst ridden teenager, like Melody. Like it or not, even though she's a lot like me, were **not** the same." Harmony said bitterly, as Ariel held back tears and nodded slowly to the girl's words.

"I'm sorry." Ariel whispered, breathing in and out to make sure she didn't cry in front of her daughter. Somehow...the girl was right. Ariel hadn't wanted to accept the fact that she was a witch...she had thought maybe if she was in the dungeon that she'd come back and everything would be fine.

"Sorry can't make up for the fact that when I needed parents, to tell me that everything was fine, to hold me when I cried, that you sent me to jail. I was scared and you basically abandoned me. You sent me far from you, so that I could be miserable while you were happy. Yeah, real sorry." Harmony laughed bitterly as tears of frustration pulled at her eyes.

They didn't understand what she'd felt like...to be a murderer...to think that you've killed a boy...to be sent to a place where she was staring at the same four walls over and over again. To be afraid because she knew she was going to die....to be so scared because you didn't know what was happening....they never even gave her the chance to talk.

"I know sorry can't make up for what we did to you....but you have to understand...we were so heartbroken when you died. W-We didn't know anything more than the note you left that said that we wouldn't care. We love you Harmony, how could you think that?" Ariel asked, as a silent tear ran down her face. Harmony kept a stiff lip as she looked at Ariel with a cold expression.

"You sent me to jail!" She exploded finally, sitting up fully with anger in her eyes that had definitely been inherited from her mother. "I was scared, my life was spinning in circles, and I needed someone to be there for me! You didn't even acknowledge my existence! Look at my arms '_Mom'_, and you wonder why I cut myself?! I have to; it's the only way I know that I'm not dead, that this isn't a nightmare! It's the only way I know that I'm still alive, that I'm not dying! But you wouldn't understand, after all, I'm just another emo kid, right?" Harmony said, as she fell back against the pillows, weak with exhaustion.

"Look at my arms Harmony." Ariel said quietly, as she pushed up both dress sleeves. Harmony refused to look so Ariel tried a different approach. "Look." She said sharply, in a tone that implied she was not to be messed with. Harmony rolled her eyes, and did what she was told.

All along Ariel's arms were scars....that had once been slashes.


	21. Chapter 21

"Y-You cut yourself?" Harmony's almost whispered voice said as she recognized the slashes on Ariel's arms.....she had the exact identical ones on her own arms.

"Used to, are better words for it. Life was a nightmare; everywhere I turned it seems as though I hit another dead end, nobody was listening....I needed to use a blade to block out the pain, or at least numb it.

When I was sixteen, it seemed as though all I ever did was get yelled at by my father for going to the surface. My sister's wouldn't listen to me, they would always tell me that he was right and I shouldn't be up on the surface anyway....even my best friend Flounder was hesitant when I wanted to go up. I was mad, I was sad, I didn't know what I was....and then cutting myself felt like the only way to make me feel at least a little bit better.

It's the same when you went missing. One minute all I had to do was pick you up in my arms and set you in your tiny crib, and the next you were just gone. Vanished. Not a trace of you was ever found. I was depressed, I needed harmony to balance out the melody in my life, and I couldn't do that if you weren't there. The whispers suddenly seemed louder, and the stares harder...again I had to turn to a blade to block out all the pain." Ariel started, but was interrupted by her daughter.

"What about....Dad? Didn't he tell you to stop?" She asked in a voice barely above a whisper as Ariel sighed, but kept on with the story.

"He tried, he really did. He would hide anything sharp away from me, but I found ways to sneak behind him and cut myself. Whether it was against a sharp rock I found at the beach, or the corner of a desk, I felt as though cutting myself was the only way to block out the pain. I couldn't look at your sister, she reminded me too much of what I'd lost...for who knew how long back then?" Ariel said with a bitter laugh, remembering back then. The pain of knowing her daughter could be dead, and the pain of knowing she could be alive and well, with another mother had just hurt so much!

"You said 'was'. When did you stop?" Harmony asked, as she managed to bring her eyes up to her mother's. Ariel sighed again, before continuing on with the story, her ball gown suddenly feeling so constricting.

"I pressed the blade against my arm one day....and I pressed it against a vein. I lost a lot of blood.....I was confined to bed for days on end. But through that I managed to realize that....hurting myself wasn't going to bring you back to me. I had another daughter....I couldn't keep doing that to myself, for Melody's sake and my own too. I could have killed myself if I kept on....and I didn't want to leave Melody motherless...like I had been throughout my own childhood. I didn't want to leave your father alone...god knows what he would have done without me." Ariel said with a gentle laugh that swayed with the breeze, playing off it like a tune.

"I didn't mean to disappear. I was a baby...and I didn't even know I had powers....I could have killed you....well, that's another screw up that I can add to my list." Harmony said with a bitter laugh, reaching over to her nightstand....to not find her normal scissors. Fine then, cigarette....she didn't have any. Crap.

"Your looking for these, aren't you?" Ariel asked, holding the scissors in front of her to show Harmony as the girl's eyes went wide and she tried to snatch it from Ariel's hand. Ariel was too quick though, and in a flash the scissors disappeared.

"I felt trapped, as if no one understood me when I cut myself. Granted, I was never thrown in a jail cell by my own father and sisters for days. But I used to be you Harmony. Trust me, I know how it feels to be trapped....my scars prove that. I know you're still struggling with everything that's happened to you in the past few months....I know that throwing you in jail was probably, no, it _**was**_ the _**wors**__t_ parenting move any parent could have ever made. I know five letters can't make up for what your father and I did to you....but I'm not asking you to forgive me, I'm just telling you what I know. Trust me Harmony, the slashes will heal, but the scars they leave will never go away, on the outside....and the inside too." Ariel finished with a sigh, getting up from the girl's bed. Now it was time for fake smiles and conversations that held no meaning...but pulling her head up, Ariel knew she could do it.

"I'll be back around ten or so, if you want we continue talking, or you can write me off. Either way, you have a few hours to think about what you want to do." Ariel said with a casual glance behind her at her Harmony, before walking out of the girl's room. She'd never told Melody about her scars, there was never any need since most of her dresses had long sleeves. And Melody would never understand the pain.

"You talked to her?" Eric's warm voice asked, as he slipped his arms around Ariel's extremely small waist. She seemed a bit better....though he couldn't imagine why. If Harmony had chosen to forgive them Ariel would be walking on air right then...but she wasn't. Still, he hated to see her sad. It always reminded him of those nightmarish days after Harmony's disappearance.

"Yes. She's not in the best mood though....but I think I managed to get through to her." Ariel said as she wrapped her arms upwards around Eric's neck. His lips nuzzled against her head as they waited to be announced, and right then Ariel was wishing they wouldn't be announced. Let everyone forget about them, just for awhile....let them go to their room......

"That's good." Eric said as he kept his lips close to Ariel's head. Her head dipped backwards against his chest, a sign from her that she wouldn't mind a kiss to make it all better. Smiling to himself, Eric leaned down, he could feel the phantom taste of her lips already......

"May I announce their royal majesties, King Eric and Queen Ariel." Grimsby's announcing voice rang out. Eric and Ariel pulled away from each other in seconds, her arm out so that he could lead her down the steps, as if nothing had ever happened just moments before. Looking into their eyes though, one would see the quiet musing that spoke both their minds.

Tonight.

* * *

**The romance at the end is for Jas, becuase you did say you wanted some more romance! :P Intense chapter, Ariel cut herself, harmony's confuzzled, Melody is still a whiney little bitch, even though she's not in this chapter.....**


	22. Chapter 22

"Harmony? Are you still awake?" Ariel's soft voice called into the girl's room. It was already nearing midnight; she just wanted to check if the girl was up still waiting to talk or if she had fallen asleep. "Har-mony." Ariel said in a quiet sing song voice. It looked as though the girl had fallen asleep, with the bed sheets thrown over her head. Smiling to herself a bit, Ariel shook her head as she blew out the candle on the girl's nightstand, and then went to remove the sheets from over her head. Gently taking the warm blankets in between her fingers, she pulled them off of Harmony's head only to see....pillows.

There was no warm body, or a soundly sleeping girl. There were only three pillows that had most likely been hastily thrown down over to resemble a body.

A mix of emotions ran across Ariel's face as she picked up a note that had been left on the pillow, written in a type of pen she wasn't familiar with.

_Dear....whoever reads this note:_

_I ran away._

_Harmony _

"No." Ariel said, sitting down on the girl's bed and putting her palm up to her head. No, Harmony couldn't have run away! Not again! Letting out a huge sigh, she flopped backwards on the bed to stare up at the ceiling, as she had done most days throughout her youth.

Where could that girl be? Where would she be? A mermaid? No, too many people who might recognize her. The village? No, everyone knew what she looked like! So where....?

Maybe she was still the castle....no, the girl wasn't an idiot. She wouldn't have been in the castle for fear of being caught.

So close....she'd been so damn close to getting through to her! How could she have just 'run away'?! Ariel showed her the scars of when she was a baby and she disappeared.....why would the girl keep on then? Just to be a nuisance to her parents? Just to torture them? Well, knowing the girl, it was entirely possible.

Plus she was a teenager that had to account to something. Teenagers were constantly whining, and annoying their parents for things they knew they'd never get. Teenagers were always totally intent on making their parents lives miserable, because somehow their own lives were 'awful' even with all of the nice things they had. Thinking to herself, Ariel came to a conclusion on teenagers. Teenagers scared the living shit out of me, she thought to herself. They could care less as long as someone would bleed! Maybe they'd leave _you_ alone, but not me, she thought bitterly to herself. Teenagers were energy sucking demons, that much she knew for sure.

Stop that, her mind scolded. You locked the girl in jail! Of course she ran away! What teen wouldn't after something like that?! Knowing that her parents had done that to her, and then not even had the guts to go down and at least visit her! She was angry! What else is she supposed to think?!

"Oh shit." Ariel muttered, as she sat up. For a Queen, she knew that language wasn't acceptable. But for a mother who had no idea where her daughter might be at when it was this late at night, that language described how she felt.

"How's Harmony?" Eric wondered, as Ariel walked through the door of their room. She gave a frustrated sigh and sat on the edge of their bed, as Eric repressed a smile and went to sit by her. She let her head rest on his shoulder, as she could finally feel the weight of her ball gown. "That bad?" Eric wondered as Ariel closed her eyes and gave another frustrated sigh, and Eric laughed lightly. She tiredly looked up at him, her electric blue eyes meeting with his crystal blue ones as she put a hand on his chest and took in a breath.

"She ran away. Or at least, that's what she said in her note." Ariel said softly, closing her eyes from exhaustion as Eric stiffened, his hand extending for the note and Arie

l, with eyes still closed handed it to him. They spent a few moments in silence, each thinking their own thoughts about this situation now before Eric finally spoke.

"Let's get some rest. We have a busy day tomorrow." Eric finally said, as his hand went through Ariel's red hair.

"Do you mean that all day meeting with the nobles, or finding our lost daughter?" Ariel wondered aloud, but Eric was silent, and she knew what his answer was by his silence.

If it wasn't so late, they'd be searching for the girl right then.....but it was late. If they didn't have that annual meeting with the nobles tomorrow they would send out search parties immediately.....but they did have that meeting. It was always family before kingdom for Ariel and Eric.....but sometimes the kingdom needed their atten

tion more than their daughters, but always only for a little bit. Like tomorrow.

They wouldn't be able to send out search parties for the girl because they wouldn't be able to oversee everything because they were in a meeting that couldn't be put off. And then even if they still did, it would be impossible because they couldn't be interrupted during that meeting. It was something that couldn't be put off. Harmony would just have to not be looked for the next day, that's all. Nothing to it.

Then why did both parents have a horrible feeling of guilt in them for doing this? Why were they both feeling as though this was going to blow up in their faces if they didn't look for her?

But then again, they couldn't look for her. The kingdom needed the King _and_ Queen's attention right now....not Harmony. No, the girl had made her bed, and now she'd have to lie in it.

For the first time in the fifteen years they'd been married, Ariel and Eric both went to sleep without a word to one another, because both their minds held the same question.

When had their kingdom become more important than their family?

* * *

**Okay, first some disclaimers. When Ariel says 'Teenagers scare the living shit out of me. They can care less as long as someone will bleed.' That's actually part of the song that i luv, Teenagers, by My Chemical Romance. If you haven't looked that song up by now, do it. Trust me, it's about teenagers hating authority. Sooo good! **

**Also, i don't think i did this, and if i did, i'm going to do it again. The song you heard in like chapter four or around that is called 'Nothing's Wrong With Me' obviously. It belong's to the movie, Pixel Perfect, which belongs to disney. It was actually a good movie by them before, you know, they became a money grubbing company that has nothing to do with dreams and all they want is money. Sigh. At least in the past they managed to put out some good stuff for my generation to watch, instead of this generation of little kids who think 'Disney' means 'High School Musical' instead of 'Dumbo' or 'Snow White' Bleh. **

**But enough of my rant, and onto you guys reviewing! How did you like this chapter? Ariel struggling to understand, Eric focused on his kingdom, and Melody is just that shadow in the backround, watching as it all unfolds. Any criticism (that's not just random criticism, i mean CONSTRUCTIVE) will help me lots to improve my story. Um let's see, what else....oh! **

**Again, if you know a boy that went to San Fran during spring break, and he was at the coi tower reading a guide book on Alcatraz while a bunch of girl's were giggling and acting mental because he was ten feet away from them, and if you know that boy waved to those girls, then please go onto facebook and look up the group called 'The Never Ending Quest to Find Romeo Raii'. **

**Okay, so now that my announcements are done, REVIEW, yadda yadda, i wring all your cyber necks, yadda yadda, throwing body's in lakes, yadda yadda.....yeah, that pretty much sums it up. Tell me how you liked or hated this chapter!**


	23. Chapter 23

"Where's Harmony?" Melody asked bluntly at breakfast. Her blue eyes traveled over the form of her mother, and then her father who kept both their gazes on their plate, not daring look into their daughter's eyes. There was a silence at the table, one seemed to be there every day.

"She's...._sleeping_." Ariel answered cautiously, but she knew Melody was too smart for that to work. Looking up, Ariel was right. The girl had her brows raised as if to say 'you want to tell me the truth now?'

"Melody, leave it alone." Eric said to his daughter to keep her from asking questions. Harmony would probably be back by night time...he had other things to think about right now than a flighty teenager who's a witch. Witch. How could that girl be a witch? For god's sake, the girl_ cut_ herself! How can _**that**_ be a witch?! Well, at least he still had another daughter that could still be Queen.

"Not until you tell me where my sister actually is." Melody retorted, crossing her arms against her chest. They could ground her or do whatever they wanted but Melody had yet to talk to Harmony, and she'd been planning to do it this morning. Harmony could hate Melody's guts for all she wanted, but Melody wasn't planning on giving up on her sister.

"Melody, stop." Ariel pleaded in a soft tone, and her daughter looked up at her with accusing eyes.

"I thought you promised to stop hiding things from me when I was twelve." Melody answered, her brows raised imploringly. Her mother had promised her that, and now if she was going back on her word....

"Melody, we're not hiding anything from you." Eric said, but when Melody turned her blue accusing eyes on Eric he suddenly saw....Harmony sitting there. Of course the girl's were identical twins, besides the hair, but suddenly he could see Harmony instead of Melody sitting at that chair, eyes digging holes into his skin.

"When are you going to tell me the truth and stop lying?" Melody's quick tongue asked, looking at both her parents with raised brows. Her parents quickly looked at each other before back at Melody, the pleading in her parent's eyes to drop it to a point where it was just sickening. "Fine. I'll find out myself." Melody said, pushing her chair away from the table and storming away from the dining room. If no one was going to tell her where her sister was, then she'd play detective for the day.

"That could have gone better." Eric noted with dry humor, as Ariel sighed deeply. They should have known better than to keep secrets from Melody....again. It seems like 'should have known better' was a common phrase nowadays in Ariel's life.

"Come on Ariel, let's go." Eric said, shaking his head at the doors that Melody had just stormed out of. Well, now that he had two daughters that were pissed off at him, he might as well try to talk to a room full of nobles about his kingdom.

"Alright." Ariel said with a sigh, walking with Eric to the throne room. Great, 8 hours of her rear hurting, start now.

Melody stormed to her parent's bedroom, knowing the way around the castle like the back of her hand as she pushed the doors open, and then quickly shut them and locked them. She wouldn't be able to snoop if someone opened the doors to their room. No, then she'd be in big trouble for trying to snoop.

What exactly are you looking for Melody, her mind asked itself as she didn't know where to begin? The non-made up bed, or her mother's vanity? The nightstands or the drawers that she knew were filled with her father's clothes? Well, cross of her father's drawers only as a last option...she really didn't need to see anything that she didn't want to see. They wouldn't hide anything in their bed, because they wouldn't want anyone to find 'it'. The nightstands....again, she didn't want to be scarred for the rest of her life. Than her mother's vanity it is.

Walking on the tiptoes of her bare feet to her mother's vanity, she opened the one drawer. There was barely anything in there which surprised Melody. She'd always thought her mother would keep makeup in her vanity, like she herself had been begging for since she turned 13. Her mother had told her that she was beautiful enough---and that she wouldn't be allowed even _near_ makeup 'till she was at least sixteen.

The drawer was mostly empty besides a few ribbons here and there, a spare brush, a note...wait! A note! Maybe she'd find a clue in the note! Closing her fingers around the paper, she pulled it out and opened it up, the wrinkles in it showing that it'd seen better days. As Melody read, reread, rereread, and rererereread the note she finally crushed it in her hand and looked out the window.

"Where are you Harmony?" Melody wondered softly to herself as she gripped the note in her hands tightly. Wherever her sister was, she was going to find her. No matter what it took, she had to.

"Excuse me gentlemen. I have to make sure my daughter's are studying. " Ariel said suddenly, getting to her feet with an apologetic smile and a conspiratal wink as chuckles rang out through the throng of nobles. If her every move wasn't being watched so carefully by these men, she would have rolled her eyes at her white lie. Studying indeed. One of her daughter's was missing, and the other one god knows where at this hour.

Melody was tutored, but her tutor was visiting his family, far from here so Melody had been getting off homework free for the past few weeks. And as for Harmony.....her parents had tried to put her in class with Melody, but the girl had been sarcastic, lazy....and she just altogether refused to do any actual academic subject, besides reading. Shaking her head, Ariel leaned against a wall as she waited for Eric to come out of the throne room himself for her 'delay'. Besides, he'd known when she made that excuse that she had been sending him a silent message that she needed to talk with him, _**now**_.

"Alright Ariel, I'm out here. What is it you want to talk about?" Eric asked in a quiet tone so that no one heard their conversation from inside the throne room. Then again, they could probably yell at the top of their lungs and no one would hear them because the walls were so thick.

"I'm not going back in Eric. Not while Harmony is missing, and Melody is angry. Our daughter's should mean more to us than a meeting that can be _postponed_ a day or so." Ariel stated her voice low as she looked at Eric pleadingly, and he sighed and brought his fingers up to her face, tracing the contours of it before he knew he had to speak again.

"Melody is just another teenager Ariel, she'll get over it soon enough. And Harmony....well, she's a _witch_. She'll be fine." Eric said as some bitterness filled his tone. Ariel stared at him and with a disbelieving expression; she pulled herself away from his fingers.

"Melody isn't 'just another teenager' she's our daughter!" Ariel said heatedly, her voice menacingly low. "And Harmony is to. She's the baby you held when she was born, when none of this had ever happened!" Ariel said as Eric gave a frustrated sigh at her words.

"How do we even know Harmony is our daughter though?!" Eric finally asked, still in quiet tones, but the acid in his voice almost lethal to Ariel as she stood there, shocked.

"What?" Ariel wondered, looking up at him with blue eyes that held question and pain in them. Eric couldn't meet her electric blue eyes as he stared at his boots.

"She's a witch Ariel. How do we know she didn't just alter her appearance to make it seem as though she's your daughter?" Eric wondered as now Ariel stood stock still, her voice small as her mind replayed his words.

"You mean '_our_' daughter....right?" Ariel corrected, but Eric only shook his head, staring past her with a nasty expression on his face.

"_Our_ daughter is Melody, the girl we raised and loved all fourteen years of her life. But _my_ daughter isn't a witch." Eric spat out, as Ariel's heart felt like a piece of it broke off and just floated off somewhere.

"Their _twins_ Eric, Harmony is as much your daughter as she is mine." Ariel said, struggling to keep her voice straight. So, this was what Eric had been thinking of about Harmony.

"Really Ariel? Because if you look at _my_ side of the family, there are no such things as witches, or mermaids, or Atlantica. Besides, Harmony is an emotional wreck. I say she goes back to her other family and let them deal with a teenage girl who cuts herself because 'the pain is too much'. " Eric spat out again, and Ariel suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to slap him. Jackass. How could he say that about her family?!

"Really Eric? So, in your opinion all girl's who cut themselves, or a girl who's different should be sent away because they're not up to '_society's_' standards?!" Ariel asked in a furious voice, the tears all gone and now replaced by anger.

"Ariel, I didn't mean you I just meant---" Eric started, realizing his mistake, but Ariel cut him off.

"You just meant every other girl who isn't your wife. And that includes your own daughter, doesn't it Eric?" Ariel spat out, continuing on before Eric could object. "I spent twelve hours in so much damn _**pain**_ bringing Harmony into this world Eric. When she disappeared, cutting myself was the only way to take the edge off of the pain I felt by my daughter's disappearance. I wouldn't have cared if she'd been born with three eyes and webbed hands, she's still _my_ daughter, and _**yours too**_. She's in pain Eric, she doesn't understand her special ability, she just needs someone to understand her right now." Ariel said with clenched teeth, before adding a few more words as her nostrils flared in full fledged fury that could have put her father's to shame. "I'll make it easy for you Eric, only two simple choices.

Go back in there and lose** me**, or help me search for our daughter, who just so happens to be a witch."


	24. Chapter 24

"If I was Harmony, where would I be?" Melody mused to herself, sitting on her bed and thinking about the situation. She tried thinking hard about where her sister was, but that only ended up in her getting a headache. Sighing, she flopped back on the bed and groaned.

It was hopeless. She wasn't going to find Harmony any time soon. By now that girl was probably back in Nebraska, wherever that was, with her other family who didn't turn out to be a bunch of back stabbing traitors. Sigh. It seemed as though Harmony's 'homecoming' wasn't all that great. Maybe she should stay in Nebraska, if she was happy there than why not? It's not like there was anything here but misery and woe that always seemed to target her specifically. Maybe.....Nebraska was better for her. Shutting her eyes for a moment, Melody let her mind drift in and out of memories of her sister, until one memory hit her so suddenly that she bolted upright.

Of course! How could she have not thought of it before! Harmony had to be there, that's what the girl said was her sanctuary, the one place she could think without annoying interruptions. She had to be there, her mind confirmed. Hastily grabbing an ink pen, she hastily wrote out a note to her parents.

She was on her horse before the ink even dried.

"Ariel, don't do this to me. You know I love you, but the meeting---" Eric tried reasoning, but he was cut off by a furious Ariel.

"Can be _postponed_. Eric, Harmony is as much your daughter as Melody is. If Melody was missing you'd be in a state of panic right now, I know you. So why treat Harmony any different?" Ariel questioned her voice still low and lethal. She was going to search for her daughter with or without him....and if he didn't come along, after she found Harmony, there would be hell to pay.

"She's a _witch_ Ariel. How else am I supposed to feel that my older daughter is a freak?!" Eric wondered, and Ariel took in a sharp breath as her fists clenched up in rage from what her husband had just said.

"Either you're helping me or you're against me here Eric. But while you're deciding, _I'm _going to search for Melody first, see if I can talk to her about what happened at breakfast, and then I'm going to go look for Harmony." Ariel said, stalking off in the direction of Melody's room.

"Shit." Eric muttered under his breath. He wanted to follow Ariel, but he was also King and he couldn't neglect his responsibilities! Then again, he was also a father, and he had a duty to his family. He hated it when Ariel did this to him, made him choose between his kingdom and his fatherhood. Looking at the closed door that lead to the throne room, he sighed, knowing which one he'd have to choose.

"Melody? Honey, are you in here?" Ariel asked as she called into her daughter's room. There was no reply and Ariel sighed. Of course she wasn't. Her daughter was probably at the beach playing with her friends, instead of being locked up indoors all day. Ariel was about to close the door to Melody's room when she noticed a note tacked onto the back of her door. Curiously, Ariel took the note off the door and started to read it.

Mom and Dad,

I think I know where Harmony is, but it's a long shot. I'll be back by dinner for sure either way, so don't send out search parties for her just yet. Trust me.

Love Melody.

Ariel gave out a frustrated sigh after she read the note and shook her head. First, she was mad at Eric, which made her mad at Melody for snooping, which made her frustrated that Harmony had been missing for hours now. Shaking her head, Ariel looked out the window of her daughter's room and gave another sigh at the thought of the note.

"Alright sweetheart." Ariel whispered to herself, as if Melody was there with her right at the moment. "I'll wait till dinner, for you." Ariel's melodic voice said as she shook her head again, sighing, before she left her daughter's room to pick up the pieces of what was now her life.

* * *

**Okay, so i know it was a little confusing with the whole change in the middle thing, but i needed you to understand what Eric was dealing with. He loves his wife, and his daughter Melody.....but this girl named Harmony he barely knows. For god's sake, it's like talking to a stranger, instead of his own daughter. And then when she turns out to be a witch....well you have to look at it from his POV. **

**Eric was raised in a society that basically frowns upon girl's that are like Ariel. Spunky, spirited, adventurous, and even silly. But the society he grew up around wants girl's that are basically programmable robots. That they always do what they're told, they don't speak out of turn when they think something is wrong, they sit around and gossip...but ****he pushed past all of that and married Ariel anyway, and when Melody and Harmony came into his life he was excited at the fact at having twin baby girl's whom he hoped would grow up to be like their mother. **

**Melody's growing up to be like Ariel, which he sees as the perfect daughter, the one he can handle...but when Harmony reenters his life she's nothing like he planned. Bitter but sweet, sarcastic but musically gifted in more ways than her voice....he's not used to dealing with girl's like her. All the court girls are the 'blonde, shallow cheerleader' of today, and while he's gotten used to Ariel and Melody being different....Harmony's difference is just like night and day compared to her mother and sister, it's not something he was raised to deal with. **

**Then, she's a witch. Oh great. So now not only is his other daughter not only bitter, sweet, sarcastic, gifted, emo---a wide variety of things, she's also a witch. He was raised with the notion that all women should stay in 'their place', he pushes past that notion for his one true love Ariel, and he's used to it by the time Melody is a teen...but Harmony is just like another species to him. One part teenage girl, the other part little girl. He's just not used to that. **

**Okay, so i hoped that helps clear somethings about Eric up, and i probably should have put that in this chapter since it was so short....but i'm too lazy to do it now. **

**Disclaimer time: I own _you_, CHUCK NORRIS. **

** REVIEW! Yay for the great ones so far, and Jas, i completely understand where your coming from and i'll make sure everything is explained to Ariel and Eric and even Melody. So everyone, review! There will be a song in the next chapter...... **


	25. Chapter 25

"_**What I thought wasn't mine  
In the light  
Wasn't one of a kind,  
A precious pearl."**_

Ariel's soft voice echoed over the waves as she sighed, walking along the shore line. She was so sorry for what she had done to her Harmony.

"_When I wanted to cry  
I couldn't cause I  
Wasn't allowed."_

Harmony sang softly to herself, closing her eyes and thinking of _fire_ to warm her body. She was so cold....and sorry that her parents were probably worried about her.

"_**Gomenasai**__ for everything  
Gomenasai, I know I let you down  
Gomenasai till the end  
I never needed a friend  
Like I do __**now."**_

She had failed her daughter by locking her up. She had failed her mother by not listening.

"_**What I thought wasn't all  
So innocent."**_

She should have believed her daughter when she said she was innocent and hadn't killed Alec purposely.

"_Was a delicate doll  
Of porcelain."_

She should have listened to her mother when she said that cutting herself was only going to leave scars, in and out that would never heal.

"_**When I wanted to call you  
And ask you for help.**__" _

She should have visited Harmony when the girl was locked up, given her food and a warm blanket so she could at least feel like her parents loved her still...well, one of them did anyway.

"_I stopped myself."_

She should have told her mother how she'd been feeling awful lately, asked her for advice on how to deal with her cutting.

"_**Gomenasai**__ for everything  
Gomenasai, I know I let you down  
Gomenasai till the end  
I never needed a friend  
Like I do __**now**__."_

She should have been there when her daughter was crying for what she'd thought she'd done. She shouldn't have runaway when she knew that her mother was trying to understand her better.

"_**What I thought was a dream."**_

Her daughter had been dead; it was like when she disappeared, tenfold.

"_A mirage" _

It wasn't fun knowing she'd died, that her family was grieving for her.

"_**Was as real as it seemed"**_

It just felt so fake, knowing that her daughter was not dead, but alive.

"_A privilege."_

It still wasn't late to go back and be a princess, wear dresses, have a tiara.....

"_**When I wanted to tell you  
I made a mistake."**_

She's been so close to getting through to the girl, so close.....

"_I walked away."_

She was gone before the ball even started, away from those who shunned her.

"_**Gomenasai**__, for everything  
Gomenasai, Gomenasai,  
Gomenasai,  
I never needed a friend,  
Like I do now  
Gomenasai, I let you down  
Gomenasai, Gomenasai,  
Gomenasai till the end  
I never needed a friend  
Like I do __**now**__."_

All she wanted now was to know her daughter was safe. She didn't have to come back home, no; Ariel wasn't going to force her into anymore decisions. She just wanted to know she was alright.

All she wanted now was a friend. She wanted someone, besides John, to understand how she felt, how her own thoughts were now scaring her. She wanted to run into her mother's arms, it didn't matter which mother, just one of them, and cry till her tears were all gone.

"I'm sorry Harmony." Ariel whispered, letting the wind hush out her words. Sorry for locking you up, sorry for not holding you when you cried, sorry for not kissing your wounds and telling you it'll all work out in the end. Sorry for not being a good mother.

"I'm sorry Mom." Harmony whispered, as the leaves rustled around her in the breeze, masking her whisper to be just the wind. Sorry for not being your daughter for thirteen years, sorry for not growing up like you planned I would, sorry for not having a normal childhood like Melody had, with you. Sorry for not being a good daughter.

* * *

**Leaves, that should give you a clue as to where Harmony is. And the song in this chapter is called _Gomenasai_ (pronounced GO-men-na-sa-i, but fast) which means i'm sorry in japenese. It's by the girl's TATU, and i've been obessing over it for at least a month now when i was on youtube and i found a video of Ariel and Melody with that song! (if you wanna look that song up, it's under the name 'Like Mother like Daughter' and the video picture if of Ariel swimming with flotsam and jetsam, it's a good vid, trust me!) **

**So, i know this wasn't the chapter you were looking for, but i wanted to keep you suspenseful. That and i want my Fanfic to be first on the fanfic page, not someone else's (yes, i am obessive compulsive about that). So, review and tell me your thoughts on everything. From Melody, to Eric, to Ariel, and to Harmony. What did Eric choose? His kingdom, or his family? Is Melody's hunch correct? Can Ariel ever be forgiven by her daughter? Will Harmony come back home on her own, or will she have to be dragged? And for that matter, what home IS she in right now? Ah, now that i've captured your attention (and possibly tortured u with the info that i wnt post till tommorrow night) i want you to review. **

**I don't care what you say, bad points about my story, good points, i just want some feedback from people (my imaginary friend Bob said it was good, but since he's imaginary he doesn't count....that much) **


	26. Chapter 26

Taking in a deep breath, Melody jumped off her mother's horse, Stormy, and grabbed a thick branch, hoisting herself up onto the tree. Alright, one branch done....another thousand more to go. Sigh.

She'd never really been taken to climbing trees when she was younger, mostly because her mother had always worried she'd fall and hurt herself because she was so small. That's why this was going to be hard, climbing her way around this..._monster_ that rooted out of the ground, looking on the slim chance that Harmony was sitting in one of the branches.

Sighing again to herself, Melody hugged the branch she was on as her legs carefully wrapped around the branch that was close to the one she was on, but higher. Riskily, she took one hand off the branch she was hugging and she let it reach over to the other branch were her legs were on. When she felt her hand grasp a small, but seemingly stable twig on the branch, she let her other hand go....only to have to twig snap and start falling!

Frantically, she let her hands and legs grope the empty air, as she tried to scream but nothing came out. She was screaming with her mouth open, she was going to hit the ground at any second; she could see it, the grass coming closer, and closer and closer! Then....nothing.

Her nose was literally pressed against the ground, as her eyes made contact with a earth worm that had just dug out of its hole. She knew her underwear was showing, thanks to gravity and the fact that she was hanging upside down...but she didn't really care. Her heart was beating fast as she let her eyes look around, to see what was happening....but nothing was. Her senses were all numb, as she now had a mouth full of dirt which she continually spat out as she felt herself slowly but surely being lifted upwards by her ankle. And then, when she was finally sitting on a stable branch, she took in a breath and looked up to thank her savior.

The result was mind blowing.

"God that was a close call." Harmony said, as she let out a relieved breath, knowing that Melody was alright. She may not like this girl a whole lot, but like it or not, she was her sister. And that meant that she had to save her sorry ass from dying.

"Harmony!" Melody squealed in delight as she leaned forward and caught her sister in a tight hug. She didn't expect Harmony to hug her back when she did this, but she really didn't expect the girl to push her away and give her a waiting expression. Melody let out a breath and sighed, knowing she was going to have to do this someday in the near future.

"Thank you for catching my foot and not letting me fall." Melody said softly as Harmony nodded as if she agreed with the words, but said nothing to them as Melody continued. "I know...your mad at Mom and Dad....and I know that what we did to you was....wrong and we can't ever make up for it...but please, please at least come home and talk to us---_them_! Please, if only for a little while." Melody implored, her bottom lip jutting out in a pout as she brought the full extensity of her blue eyes on Harmony.

The girl only shook her head as she thought _Coke_, and a Coke soda can appeared in her hand. Melody asked no questions, or said any comments as Harmony started to drink from the can, taking long swigs from it and letting the cool liquid spill onto her shirt. When she was finally finished with the bottle, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as the Coke disappeared.

"I-I didn't think anyone would come looking for me---you know, since I'm a-a witch and everything. I thought you guys gave up on me." Harmony said as her gaze traveled to her well worn Converse and scraped up knobby knees that were completely showing thanks to the fact that she had changed her dress into a tee shirt and a pair of Bermuda shorts.

"Why did you go?" Melody asked softly, wondering about her sister's clothes, but not asking or pointing out how....._revealing_ they were. She had enough problems with her sister as it was, and she didn't want to add to that anymore than she needed to.

"Sometimes", Harmony started, but stopped as she took in a deep breath to calm herself. Until coming to this world, showing her emotions so much had never been an option. She just always felt after the sixth grade that someone would stomp on her again, breaking her feelings, not hurting them. So she put on a bravado, fooling most into thinking that she was brave and nothing could hurt her. It was the only way to not get hurt herself. Looking away from Melody and to the mountains that this tree provided a great view of, she sighed and started over.

"Sometimes you need to runaway just to see who will come after you." She said in a small voice, as her back pressed against the tree trunk and she brought her knees to her chest.

In truth, on the inside she wasn't as brave or uncaring as she led them on to think. On the inside she was just that scared little eleven year old, walking up the steps of _**Middle School**_ as it had seemed to her back then, unknowing of what lay ahead of those doors that would take her inside. Not many had ever broken her to spill her feelings, and it had only been in times of true distress that she'd even shown she still had them to her friends.

"Harmony....." Melody started, but she didn't know how to finish. How could she talk to her own sister, the one she'd betrayed numerous times, the one who couldn't even trust her now for what she'd done before in a moment of anger.

"Melody, you don't know what its like. I belong to two worlds Mel, **two**. It's tearing me up inside that I can't be part of both worlds. Lately I've just been so lost....I mean, did I really make the right choice, being a princess? Or will I always be that Nebraska girl at heart? I-I can't go on like this anymore. Please, don't make me choose again...please. I-I can't handle this life anymore; everything is always just so hard. Now.....the pain is just there. When I talked to John the pain was bottled up inside me....but I can't do that anymore 'cause the bottle usually explodes....and then I'm left with this." Harmony said, as tears ran down her dirty cheeks. She hid her head in her knees and cried, not caring about anything right now.

She couldn't be a princess, but she couldn't be a Nebraska girl. She had to belong somewhere....right? No one could not belong nowhere...or could they? Well, her life _had _been a testament to that. When she was in Nebraska, she dreamed of a bigger, better life. When she was a princess, she dreamed of a simple, one horse town life. So...which world did she belong in? She couldn't live in both, that was for sure...but then, what was she supposed to do? Give up one life, her dreams in that life, her aspirations....for another one?

"Harmony." A sweet, soothing voice called as Harmony sniffled and looked up to see.....Amaranth floating there, her silver tail shining as ever as the cape she wore still flowed from behind her, an accent to her blonde hair.

"What?" Harmony asked bitterly, right now not caring if she was dead or not. At least in death she'd be able to not make decisions, let others do it for her.

"Dear Child, the tears show signs of deep mourning within you." Amaranth started, her voice as gentle as the wind, but with an underlined passion that only Harmony knew she could tell that the wind always wasn't so calm and gentle.

"Amaranth...how did _you_ choose? I mean, you could have hidden your powers and grown up as a normal girl." Harmony stated, as Amaranth sighed, closing her eyes as the images of her youth passed before her. Reopening her crystal blue ice eyes, she eyed Harmony and shook her head.

"Did history teach you nothing of my struggles?" Amaranth asked, and Harmony shook her head furiously as Amaranth cursed the God's in her mind. Maybe she'd scared those historians a little _to_ well.

"All Atlantican history says about you is that you were deemed a hero at the age of twenty because you managed to create peace throughout the land with the Triton." Harmony stated, knowing this because of Amaranth's spell book. She'd managed to find a spell about the history of the first witch, and 'everything' about her.

"Yes, because _that_ was the way the people saw me." Amaranth said, as her voice lashed like a sword, cutting through Harmony viciously as she suddenly felt her own anger arise, though she couldn't imagine why.

"What do you mean?" Harmony wondered, trying to keep any traces of the anger out of her voice. She didn't know why she was so angry all of a sudden, she just knew she _was_ and that was all there was to it.

"I created the Triton not to restore peace to the sea, but to control the powers within me, leaving a lot inside of the Triton so I could be at ease. I only created a palace so that I and my family could live away from the people who hated me. I did simple acts to show the people I wasn't a monster, I tried to help them....but they shut me down one by one....and my anger grew. To punish them, I turned the sea into _**my **_Kingdom and calling it Atlantica. I killed hundreds who tried to attack me, including my brother and my eldest son. Finally, I was destroyed by my _dear _husband, as he hoped to control the sea as his. He was wrong though, because as a final act I made my youngest son the only eligible one to touch the Triton and feel its power. I killed without regret then, no i was no hero like the people saw me, I was a pureblooded murdering Queen. And my soul shall lie trapped in this world until one can kill me for good." Amaranth said with a frustrated sigh, shaking her head angrily as she looked up at a gaping Harmony.

"B-But you're sorry for doing that right? You tried to fix it in the end, right?!" Harmony rambled, as her heart beat fast, faster than it ever had. Amaranth was silent, and silence was an answer in itself. Harmony gulped, now freakishly scared of the woman before her, and looked right into Amaranth's eyes as the woman smiled a cruel smile to her.

"Your time with _**my**_ powers is up, little girl."


	27. Chapter 27

"What?" Harmony asked as fear struck her suddenly. The world she was in suddenly turned dark, the whiteness and wonder of it disappearing and before her wasn't a beautiful woman with golden hair and a silver tail. Before her was a scowling woman, with hair that was wild around her face, all of it gray from years. Her face suddenly wasn't so perfect, the true meaning behind it showed. A nose that looked more like a beak, and wrinkles went around every corner of her face. Once crystal blue eyes were now dark, gray as her hair, looking right into Harmony as if she could see her soul. He silver tail had disappeared along with her cape, showing a small chested figure with a skinny body that went along with it, the bones poking through. Her tail was even black!

"So easy to deceive, just like all those idiotic merpeople." The woman said in a cackling voice that sounded more out of a crappy black and white 50's movie instead of real life. It all fell in place for Harmony then, and her eyes went wide as she took a step back from the woman.

"Y-You were never on my side!" Harmony whispered out, as Amaranth laughed evilly, throwing her head back and showing the sagging, wrinkly neck she owned. Shaking with fear, like every evil villain Harmony had ever known in her life (cartoons, comic books, math teachers etc.) she had to gloat.

"Of course I wasn't on your side! Little baby girl thrown from her lovely life in a castle, to a life with another family, poor you. Whiney little bitch, I've endured worse than you ever had and never complained." Amaranth said sarcastically, venom dripping from her voice as her every word stung Harmony. "I first forced my historians to paint me as a appealing hero, a wonderful witch that created peace, _that_ was fun, tricking generations of children into thinking I was on _their_ side. Then you came along, and I felt it, my power slipping. You were the next witch, you held _**my**_ rightful power, but I wasn't going to lose it that easily.

All I needed to do was use up the last of my power into tricking you that I gave a crap as to what your life was like. I created a beautiful image of myself and a wonderful world, instead of this pit I'm sentenced to until my soul can be destroyed. I earned your trust immediately, and I was going to wait to take my power back from you....but of course _**you**_ got curious, and I told you everything that I shouldn't have. And you figured out my actual motives, but no matter. A few simple spells and I'll be back on the top." Amaranth cackled again, as her hands shot out in front of her, and suddenly Harmony's hands were tied behind her back, and she was forced on her knees.

"Why don't we bring in the family to watch?" Amaranth cackled again, as her hands shot out in front of her and she recited a spell as Harmony's face drained of any blood.

A wind shot out, pulling faster, and faster, and faster, and faster, to the point where her red hair was whipping her face as she closed her eyes and shook in fright. She closed out the sounds of yells and screams, and of confused voices. When she reopened them minutes later, she could only see the pure dreaded fear looks...of her family.

Her family was staring at shock at Amaranth, who had somehow gotten the trident. Triton was next to them, fury on his face but also fear as he had no idea what was happening. Her Mother, Dad, Melody, and even _Ryan _were there. Everyone was kneeling with hands tied behind their backs. The worst part, when they caught sight of her there, fear turned to pity, to anger. Shaking, Harmony started to cry, knowing that she was going to die soon.

"Kat!"Ryan's desperate voice called amidst all of the whirling wind and spells being shouted out as Amaranth started to rebuild her empire. Everyone turned to stare at him, not used to a name called 'Kat' but Harmony immediately recognized it, and stood straight up. "Do something you idiot!" Ryan's voice yelled, and if everyone wasn't so afraid, and shocked at what was happening, they would have seriously wanted to know if he was alright in the head.

"Ryan! I-I-I can't!" Harmony cried out, as a sob escaped her lips. It was true. She felt as though something was blocking her powers. Every time she tried to push past it she felt something inside her hurt like hell. Her family gave her a pitied look, but it was also mixed with anger. She ignored them and focused on her brother, intent on getting at least _him_ out of here. Amaranth was playing on her weaknesses, she knew that if she killed her brother Harmony would be too heartbroken to even move a muscle, let alone ever use her powers again.

"You _can_ fucking do it Kat, I know you can!" Ryan shouted at the top of his lungs, trying to talk to his sister. It didn't matter that he was in the middle of a battle that had something to do with a fork that was gold, and a crazy lady shouting out things that didn't make sense.

Screams littered the air and shouts of stop it, and let us go were mixed in. But he couldn't move from his position, but he knew Kat could do something. How else was she able to get him there?! No, that girl was different; he'd always known it when he saw her crawling around his room when he was three. He'd just felt it when they were growing up, he'd just always known something about her.

"Let us go!" Melody's voice rang out as she called to Amaranth who only gave a cackle in response but said nothing as she kept chanting spells and the darkness slowly turned into a kind of fog as she said the spells with perfect timing, knowing each one and how they'd kill.

"Ryan!" Harmony screamed as something almost hit her, a bolt of lightning? Ah, Amaranth was trying to kill her! The girl just barely moved out of the way as the next bold of lightning came, to her mother's screams and her father's gaping mouth that said 'this can't be happening'. Triton was just---shocked to say the least. Who was this that knew all these spells? Why did she want the trident and his family?! Why was Harmony so far from them?! What was really happening?!

"Remember the little engine that could Kat!" Ryan finally yelled out, so loud that it caught Amaranth's attention, and with a cruel smile slowly spreading to her lips, she pointed the trident to Ryan, as his expression turned to pure horror as he knew he was going to die.

"Say goodbye to big brother little girl!" Amaranth laughed, as she felt the energy of her trident start humming as she thought about where to hit the boy. Well, probably his chest, that would leave a nasty whole, leave the girl in a fit of tears, unable to say or do anything---until Amaranth killed her of course. First she slowly kills her family, and then she kills the girl who by then would be probably passed out. Good, then she'd die in her sleep. Feeling enough energy in the trident, with all her might, Amaranth's wild eyes and distorted face---

"STOP!" A single scream sounded, and suddenly....everything became still. No more wind, no more spells....even the trident was working! Her trident wouldn't even fire at the girl to get her to shut up! "Nobody. Hurts. _My_. Big. Brother." Harmony said through clenched teeth as she stood op off the ground easily suddenly. Oh but she wasn't thinking about that. No, she was to furious at Amaranth who's wild eyes suddenly turned pleading, her expression in a pathetic pout to not hurt her. Smoke was literally coming down Harmony's nose as she looked up at Amaranth and suddenly...she was in the air. She was floating, flying, whatever, but she was higher than Amaranth, who's expression turned to mocking.

"What are you going to do princess? Kill me? You're too weak for such things. You always were. You never deserved to hold _my_ power." Amaranth hissed as she realized the binds on the captives that she had were released as Harmony grew in the air and fire started coming out of her nose.

"It's my power now, bitch." Harmony's single note voice said, as she spread out her hands in front of her, and words from a spell started to come off her tongue easily, as if she'd known them entire life. She could feel the stares at her from her family, but she did nothing about them as she kept reciting the words, knowing what they meant, and she kept reciting them over and over, as Amaranth's screams were the only things that were heard.

Amaranth could feel it. The girl was sucking everything she had. Everything she'd ever worked for, everything she ever wanted...was going to that girl, and there was not a thing she could do about it. It was painful, losing everything in her, and she knew no one cared for her hideously cackled screams the filled the air instead of that melodic music that girl could play. Now she had a new piano, the only problem, she was playing a sharp key, over, and over, and over, and over, hurting Amaranth to the point where she felt so dizzy.

Blood came from her mouth, spilling over her tail as she felt her skin being torn as her soul was finally destroyed. Blood was seeping from everywhere on her, her skin was burning, she was burning, she was cold, she was hot, she was dying, she wasn't....oh so many things were in her! And finally, with everything in her torn and destroyed....Harmony crushed the woman's soul, sending her to whatever hell hole she'd come from.

The spell was hard on Harmony, as she closed her eyes and boxed her ears to block out the pain this woman was in. She wasn't murdering her; no she'd already been dead. She was destroying what was left of her goddamn soul, crushing it as if it was nothing more than a graham cracker. And when she was finished, she opened her eyes...and fell.

* * *

**Damn you Amaranth! Who would have known she'd be evil, huh? I didn't. Seriously, i didn't until i finished writing the last chapter i was like 'wow! i never knew that!' Okay, so how'd you like the battle chapter? Originally i was going to put Ariel's sister's, and their families in it...but then i was like, no i don't like it with them in it. So, review! I want to know what you think of this chapter! and the last one two!**

**So to recap: Melody found Harmony in the tree, Harmony disapears to Amaranth, Amaranth turns evil, Amaranth tries to kill family....Harmony get's to kill her. But, she's falling now! And trust me, she's really high up in the air, i'm talking at least 20 feet up, and she's falling down to the floor....will she break anything? Will she die?! I mean, she's already really fragile as it is....will she like fall and hit her head causing a blood clot and then she'll die from brain bleeding? Will a bug go into her brain, lay a thougsand eggs and like, eat her brain?! WHAT?! I NEED TO KNOW! **

**Okay, so review, i want to know what you think of the battle scene. Don't worry though, i'm still going to do another few chapters....probably more than a few to make sure everything is explained, but if you have something you don't understand tell me and it'll be answered either in the chapter or in my author notes! Promise! REVIEW!!**


	28. Chapter 28

Funny thing about falling is that you never think about your landing. Oh sure when your sky diving in the air, it's so much fun....but do those people ever think about what if their parachute is a dud? Or what if their parachute opens up mid sky....but your already descending so fast, a parachute isn't going to help you now. Your too close to the ground, everything is suddenly coming so fast at you. The grass, the tree.....that wild animal just staring at you in the hope that you taste good. And all the while, not one of those thoughts pass your mind as you land safely on the landing pad, knowing that you've cheated death yet again.....or have you?

Harmony landed straight on her left arm, and a loud CRACK! could be heard. She was conscious, but just barely as she felt warm blood oozing down her face as her head throbbed. She knew that she was barely alive now, tipping on the edge of death and life. But she didn't want to die, at least, not like this.

With what strength she had left as she heard the shouts of both her names reach her ears, and the pounding of footsteps, she forced her lips to start moving in a spell that she didn't even know she had memorized. As a violent wind started to pick up around her, she hardly noticed it as she whispered the last of the spell, sending everyone back to their homes....and then she passed out from the pain and exhaustion.

When consciousness finally came back to her, Harmony didn't immediately open her eyes up. She didn't hear any machine going beep, beep, beep, so that must mean she wasn't in a hospital....but where was she? Had she sent herself back somewhere too? She didn't think she had that kind of strength.....but if she had done it....where was she?

"I think she's coming to!" An excited voice called as slender fingers pushed back a lock of her red hair, tucking it behind her ear. Gently, the fingers traced the bandage that was wrapped around the girl's head to keep her stitches in place as the eyes of the person who owned the said fingers traveled down to a thick white cast on the girl's arm.

"Fuck." Harmony groaned as she opened her eyes blearily looking up at her parents. Her arm complained sharply as she moved it but she could care less as she sat up on her good elbow, blinking away sleepiness.

"How do you feel?" Eric's anxious and worried voice asked. All he got in return was Harmony flopping back on the bed and her groaning. His shoulders sagged in relief that she was at least alright enough to act like a teenager.

"I feel like I have a hangover." Harmony groaned again, wincing at the pain in her arm and head. Everything was so blurry...what had happened? Was she hit by a bus? It certainly felt that way.

"I'm curious as to why you know what a hangover feels like." Ariel's voice chimed in softly, as her laugh rang out around her daughter whose blue eyes flew open in a second and her face paled in knowing what she'd said.

"My brother told me what it felt like." The girl quickly came up with an excuse, but Ariel didn't buy it for a moment as she pressed the back of her fingers to her daughter's cheek. No fever....but Harmony was still shaking as though she had the chills.

"Do you want to tell us...everything that happened now?" Eric asked in a nice tone as his wife shot him daggers at the question. It'd been three days since....everything really, but Ariel still hadn't gotten over the fact that he'd chosen to go back to the meeting, because if he hadn't there would have been serious consequences. Still, it'd been a moment of weakness on his part...now he was just trying to save what was left of his marriage at the moment.

"Okay." Harmony said tiredly, as she opened her mouth to speak but something was forced into her mouth at that exact moment...and it made her entire face go sour at the taste of it. Looking up she saw Ariel's amused face and raised brows that just were telling her to spit it out, and see what would happen. Managing to swallow it Harmony looked up at Ariel who was still quite amused at all of this.

"It's a pain medicine." Ariel explained as she started to tuck Harmony back in and Eric shook his head. Ariel had been like this for the past week, anytime he said or did something she retorted it by a smart remark or by doing something else just to screw him.

"It taste's gross." Harmony yawned out, as Ariel tucked another strand of her hair behind the girl's ear. Smiling at her daughter, she gently tucked a thick blanket around her and kissed her forehead.

"Its medicine, it's not supposed to taste good, it's supposed to help you get better." Ariel said with another smile to her daughter who's eyes started closing as she tried to keep awake. "Sleep sweetheart. I promise you'll be better in the morning if you do." Ariel said and Harmony's nod came slowly and thickly, as if she was so tired that she couldn't even know what Ariel had just said. In seconds she was asleep.

Shaking her head and smiling a little at her daughter, Ariel kissed her forehead once again before giving Eric a cold look and stalking off to their room. She was still mad at him, for what he'd done, what he'd said, and this time, a few simple words weren't going to make up for what he'd said about his own daughter!

Not caring if he was coming or not, Ariel closed the door to her room behind her as she walked in.....and seconds later it reopened with Eric sighing as he saw Ariel give him a cold look still.

"You've got to talk to me sometime Ariel." Eric said as he leaned against the wall looking at his wife with raised brows. She shot him a look that said 'no I don't' and Eric sighed again. "It's been three days already and I already apologized a million times. So what more do you want?" Eric wondered, a pleading underneath his words for Ariel to at least consider what he was talking about.

"I don't know." Ariel said sarcastically as Eric winced at her words. "Maybe I want to know that my husband actually loves me and my family." Ariel said with venom dripping down her voice. Eric crossed the room in seconds, and before she could do anything, he locked her into a kiss.

Neither could deny their feelings for one another when they kissed. There was passion, but naivety still to the touching of their lips. A tingly shock went through both their bodies as their lips met and locked in each other's embrace. A warm glow could be felt in both of them too, and as they finally pulled away from each other for air, that glow yearned for them not to stop, to keep on going.

"I never said I didn't love you, my little mermaid. Without you Ariel, I wouldn't be here. I can't imagine a life without you....its too painful to think about. Don't ever say that, no, don't ever even _think_ that I don't love you or our daughters." Eric said, surprised that Ariel hadn't pushed him away yet. His voice was calm, but there was sincerity behind his words that his wife knew he couldn't be lying.

"Promise me you won't hurt me like that again. Promise me that you'll love our girls, no matter what they go through or who they are. Promise." Ariel whispered and Eric nodded at her words.

"I promise." He whispered into the still night, as Ariel rested her head against his chest. He wasn't completely forgiven he knew, but it was a start. Now he just had to push past his thoughts on society and just think about Harmony, and how she must be. He had to. For the sake of his marriage.....and his little mermaid.

* * *

**Okay, so i supposed to post more chapters i know....but i fel asleep last night while i was writing, so i'm posting just one chapter this morning. Promise i'll have more up by tonight so keep checking back. **

**Review, yadda yadda. If you read my stories, you know how this drill goes. ****Any questions, constructive critcism, or praises are all helpful to making my story better. :D **

**So, how'd you like this chapter? Harmony wakes up, Ariel and Eric make up.....and Melody is still a whiney litlte bitch. She's not even in this chapter and i can't stand her, that has to show you how hipocritical (sp?) writers are. **


	29. Chapter 29

"H-Harmony?" Melody called out quietly into her sister's room. Timidly walking in, she saw her sister sitting up, sketching something. When Harmony caught sight of her sister, without looking up, she waved the girl in.

"What'd you think?" Harmony asked her sister, as she turned her sketch pad over and showed Melody what she was drawing. It was a rough outline so far, but it might actually look real if she added more shadow.....

"It's wonderful." Melody said honestly, as she relaxed some. It seemed as though Harmony wasn't mad...but then again, with her sister one could never know. "Mind if I sit?" The girl asked, and Harmony shrugged not caring either way. Melody nodded, mostly to herself, and sat down on her sister's bed not willing to look into her eyes. It was silent between the two girls, the only sound being the pencil moving across the page, before Melody, as always, couldn't take it anymore.

"Are you mad?" Melody finally blurted out, and Harmony's eyes looked up at her sister and shrugged, as she kept sketching.

"No. I'm trying this new thing, you know; listen before I act because I always end up in some screwed up situation when I don't do that." Harmony sighed, as she kept sketching, not willing her eyes to look up at Melody.

"I'm sorry about....everything. If I had never called you....well, you know, in front of everyone.....this would have never happened." Melody said with a sigh, as Harmony chewed on her nails and shook her head at her sister.

"It would have happened anyway. Amaranth was planning to take all of my 'special power' anyway, and the only way to do that was kill me so...." Harmony said with a shrug and Melody sighed, looking at her sister with furrowed brows.

"Amaranth....was she the one who tried to kill us all?" Melody wondered and Harmony sighed but nodded. "Why?" Melody wondered again, and Harmony sighed, closing her eyes.

Behind her shut eyes she could see it perfectly. Her family, the trident, Ryan, the horrified expression on everyone's face. She could feel the blood oozing back on her face, the pain of her arm....she could literally feel the pain, it just hurt....so much. Then the image switched to her falling and her life flashing before her eyes. She didn't know she had killed Morgana...but she definitely felt it when she hit that ground. She couldn't breathe, her chest felt so constricting. She couldn't breathe....she could hear everyone around her...but she couldn't scream and tell them to give her the inhaler. She could hear the cries...she could feel her consciousness fading....darkness was on the edge of her world. She was going to die....everything hurt.....she was dying....pain...chest....

"Harmony!" Ariel's voice called, shaking her daughter out of the trance like state she was in. Melody had run to her parents when she couldn't shake Harmony out of it, she'd been so scared that something was wrong.

"Huh? What?" Harmony said as the pain disappeared all of a sudden and she found herself back in her bed, with her parents standing there with worried expressions as was Melody who also looked scared.

"What's wrong?" Eric asked with a worried expression to his daughter who shuddered and started breathing raggedly. Her forehead was lined with sweat as she shuddered again at what was behind of her eyes.

"I-I keep seeing.....everything.....the blood.....the pain....make it stop. Please." Harmony whispered as her eyes held no small amount of pain in them. She bit her lip to keep from crying but it was so hard...she could feel the blood back on her face....she could feel the groaning in her body as she felt a sob escape her lips.

"Shh sweetheart. Your safe now, nothing can happen." Ariel murmured as she held her teenage daughter who was trying hard not to cry. The bandage around her head looked awful, and her pure white cast on her left arm looked even worse. Ariel sighed, wishing there was a way to take her daughter's pain away....but the girl was refusing to drink any of her medicine now.

"Make it go away....please....make it stop." Harmony whispered as she let another sob loose from her mouth and her mother hugged her tightly. Her father reached out a comforting hand as Melody frowned at her sister's tears. Finally when Harmony calmed down enough Ariel released her and shook her head at her young daughter.

"Honey, why don't you tell us what happened." It wasn't a question; it was a command, but a gentle one at that. Ariel didn't want to scare her daughter anymore than the girl already was, but she had to know what happened....how all of that had happened.

"Okay." Harmony said, biting her lip as she wiped off a tear from her eye with the palm of her hand. Slowly, she let out a breath and started to explain....everything. From what happened when she died, to running away (she purposely left out Ariel cutting herself....it didn't look like Melody knew about that), to Melody finding her up in the tree....and Amaranth displaying her true colors. "I-I'm sorry for being a witch....and then almost killing everyone...I-I understand if you hate me. _I _would hate me." Harmony finished with a ragged breath as she bit her lip and looked down, not meeting her family's eyes.

There was a silence in the room, as they all took it in, shock turning to surprise and surprise turning to shock for Melody, Eric, and Ariel. But they were all thinking different thoughts about this.

In Melody's case, she was trying to get over the shock still of her sister being a _witch_. Her mother had always dismissed that as a silly notion, even after she was allowed back into the sea. The girl could easily snap her fingers and they all would be dead! Then on the other hand, she could snap her fingers and do something good. But what if she got really angry at one of them?

For Eric it was that he was in shock that this girl, his _**daughter**_ for heaven's sake, was already so....grown up. Though, he should have seen this, considering the last time he'd seen her, she'd been trying to keep up on her small little legs. Now though, it was as if she was already beyond her years as a teen. Melody might be somewhat mature for her age....but still from time to time she'd throw a tantrum over something as if she was a child. _That_ was normal. Acting like an adult and taking full responsibility for one's actions at the age of fourteen though....wasn't.

And for Ariel....well first she was glad Harmony was at least somewhat safe and sound at home....but it just didn't feel right to her. As if her daughter was holding something back, something big that she was afraid to say. But what? She couldn't possibly be wishing to go back to that Nebraska...could she? Where she was only a small town girl, with big dreams....but nowhere to start? Why would someone want that when they had this?!

"Harmony....we love you for who you are on the inside....and being a witch is just part of you. We could never hate you for something you can't control. What we did to you was wrong....on _so_ many levels...you should be the one hating us." Eric said as he lifted Harmony's chin so he could look in her eyes. The girl shook her head and brought her gaze back down on her bed, and Eric looked helplessly to his wife and Melody.

"Harmony, I know you're not telling us something. Tell us." Ariel said in a calm voice, far to calm as far as her family was concerned. It was that calm before the storm that Ariel had, and they knew better than to fight a storm.

"You're going to find out from blabbermouth anyway, so I might as well." Harmony said as she purposely shot Melody a look and the girl hung her head. Both of them would never get over what she had said. "I choose to live...in this world...but I can't anymore. It hurts too much to be away from my small town, my friends, my family. I-I just can't deal with this anymore. At least back in Nebraska when I knew I screwed up it was on something small...like an algebra test...not the fate of the seas. I-I'm done choosing what world I want to live in." Harmony said in a voice that shook, but she didn't cry. She wasn't going to give them a Dr. Phil moment.

"So you want to go back." Melody said as she hung her head, knowing that her one mistake had caused all this. If Harmony hadn't been called a slut, Alec wouldn't have tried to kiss her and them she wouldn't have gotten beaten up. Then she would have never seen him dead, and she would have never be locked up and then die and runaway. One mistake set off an entire wreck. Great Melody, you've done it this time, you really have.

"I want to go back...but I want to stay too. It's....complicated. Just...leave me alone to think it out, okay?" Harmony asked in a pleading tone, as her parents looked at one another and sighed, but got off her bed and walked out of her room, followed by a somber looking Melody.

Death would be a welcomed friend for Harmony.

* * *

**Wow, intense to the extreme. So what is Melody thinking? And Ariel and Eric? Most importantly...Harmony. If she goes away....what will her family do? But what if she stays? What other option is there besides those two?! **

**Ah, the answers in time. **


	30. Chapter 30

As Melody walked along the shore line, she could barely see three feet in front of her...but that was alright as she looked up at her sister's balcony and sighed heavily. She wanted to leave them. She was going to leave them. And all because of her. With anger rushing through her veins Melody through a rock as hard as she could into the sea, tears streaming down her face as she picked up another and did it again. And again, and again...until finally she just fell altogether, crying. Slowly, her mouth formed words and with a heavy pain in her heart, she started to sing softly.

"_Well, I couldn't tell you  
Why she felt that way? She felt it everyday  
And I couldn't help her  
I just watched her make the same mistakes again_

Oh that was true enough. First Harmony runs away because of what Melody had done to her, and then she runs away again, for what she hadn't done.

What's wrong, what's wrong now?  
Too many, too many problems  
Don't know where she belongs  
Where she belongs?

Harmony had problems...but didn't they all, Melody thought bitterly. And Harmony had _real _problems, not like the teenage crap she always complained about. She was broken inside. Two worlds, two families, she's a witch, her family locks her up, she'd cheated death numerous times....but no one ever understood her enough.

She wants to go home but nobody's home  
That's where she lies  
Broken inside with no place to go  
No place to go to dry her eyes  
Broken inside

_Open your eyes  
And look outside find the reasons why  
You've been rejected  
And now you can't find what you've left behind_

They'd never tried to understand Harmony. They all thought she was that same baby that left....they never realized that she still missed everyone she left behind.

_Be strong, be strong now  
Too many, too many problems  
Don't know where she belongs  
Where she belongs?_

What world did she belong in? The one where she was a princess...or where she was just another ordinary teen, trying to find herself in the crowd of nobodies.

_She wants to go home but nobody's home  
That's where she lies  
Broken inside with no place to go  
No place to go to dry her eyes  
Broken inside_

What world was her home? Her real family or her adopted one? The one she grew up with...or the one she came to understand over the past few weeks?

_Her feelings she hides, her dreams she can't find  
She's losing her mind, she's fallen behind  
And she can't find her place, she's losing her faith  
She's fallen from grace, she's all over the place, yeah_

She was everywhere....and no one could understand. She barely spoke what she felt like, her dreams that had once been solid were now muddled....she'd fallen so fast.

_She wants to go home but nobody's home  
That's where she lies  
Broken inside with no place to go  
No place to go to dry her eyes  
Broken inside_

Nobody would ever understand what that girl could feel like after all of this. Suddenly switching worlds...almost dying...running away....

_She's lost inside, lost inside_

She was a princess but at the same time a normal teenage girl. _Who_ was she?

* * *

**Really, really, really short, i know, sorry, but i didn't want to mix this songfic chapter with anything else because i really think the song fits. It's Nobody's Home by Avril Lavigne...good song actually. I've been waiting for so long to introduce it into a chapter, and i finally had my big break! Yay! I don't own it, sadly, Avril does...or maybe her record company idk. Anyway, review, tell me how you liked 'a glimpse into Melody's mind'**

**P.s. I'll post another chapter or two tonight, don't panic. Geez, you spook worse than a herd of cattle and an airhorn (which by the way, i HAVE done once...not very pretty let's just say. **

**P.p.s. REVIEW! And misty, i know your mad that i only posted one chapter yesterday, but i was up at five in the morning and i couldn't get back to sleep until eleven at night so...**


	31. Chapter 31

"Eric, what if she wants to go back?! Oh I know she does! Then we'll never see her again and-and it'll be just like when she disappeared and I can't go through all of that again! What can we do, can't we force her to stay here with her real family instead of her adopted one?! We have to because I'm not going to go through that again. Okay, we'll force her to stay. Oh but what if she ranaway?! Then what will we do?! I---" Ariel's almost hysterical sentence was cut short as she heard Eric's soft laugh behind her.

"I think it's been proven that talking that fast isn't good for your health." Eric chuckled as he took Ariel's hand in his and gently pulled her into his embrace. His warms arms were Ariel's sanctuary, as she sighed taking in a deep breath as she looked up at and amused Eric.

"What are we going to do Eric?" Ariel said in a slower, more articulate this time. She always talked fast when she was nervous and scared at the same time. She'd done it since she was a little girl, which often proved to her sisters and father that she'd done something wrong.

"_We_ are going for a walk on the beach." Eric said in a chuckled voice as Ariel gave him a look that said all. But he only laughed it off as he grabbed both their cloaks, tossing Ariel's to her. She caught it with one hand easily, looking from the cloak to her husband skeptically.

"Eric, it's nearly ten at night. It's got to be freezing out there---and I'm already wearing my nightgown...." Ariel let her answer trail off as she watched Eric pull on his own cloak and look at her with amusement clear in his eyes.

"Well, we could stay inside, make sure the girls are sleeping, go to bed ourselves, and then wake up and be the King and Queen." Eric said with a dramatic sigh, as he 'forced' himself to look up at Ariel. Her cloak was already on and she was halfway out the door.

"Where are you going?" He called out, grabbing a lantern so he could actually see where he was going outside.

"To the beach." Ariel's soft laughing voice called back to him, as she tiptoed through the palace, as if she was only a girl of sixteen again. That'd been something they fell into habit doing when they were just married. Sneaking out at night to go to the beach, just the two of them. Ariel had only been human for a month at that time, everything had just seemed so...big, and she had just been so small. If it hadn't been for those late nights when Eric would basically grab her hand and lead her to the beach, she was sure she'd never have felt at home.

When she felt the cool waves gently lap against her feet, Ariel knew this was where she wanted to be right now. Human, but still attached to the sea. It was a wonderful feeling for her.

"Do you remember the last time we did this?" Eric wondered as he breathed in the salty sea air around him. Amazing how his parents had died in a storm when he was only 16, and yet, he still sailed and went out to the beach. Grimsby said he was missing a few brain cells, but he didn't care. The sea always made him feel....connected to his parents, as if they were telling him that they were proud of how he turned out. Of course....he made a lot of mistakes, with namely Harmony, but he would try and fix them...somehow.

"Mhm. Of course. You asked me to dance to the music only you and I could hear." Ariel said softly, a nostalgic smile on her face. Dancing was a language in itself between her and Eric, just them two on a cloud.

"It's going to be alright Ariel. Harmony deserves to choose her own life; we can't make that decision for her." Eric said as Ariel sighed and shook her head, her red hair spilling everywhere in the wind.

"I know....but, I just wish she'd choose to stay. She did before....but what if she doesn't again?" Ariel asked with another heavy sigh, wishing that it didn't hurt her so much that her own daughter wanted to go away to her adopted family.

"Ariel, she's had the power to go back this entire time. And she did go back, to her old room, her town....but she always came back. I'm sure whatever she chooses we'll have some say in it." Eric said as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Ariel brightened, if only a little at his words. That was her ray of sunshine in a thunder storm.

"Your right." Ariel said with more light in her tone than she'd had just moments ago. Leaning her head against Eric's chest, she closed her eyes, smiling at the moment between them. She couldn't stay on this earth if he wasn't here, no that would be impossible. When she was suddenly released from his warm arms, suspiciously she turned around frowning. Eric smiled and gave her a bow, extending his hand with hope in his eyes. Ariel held back a smile, not very well at that, but curtsied to him as she took his offered hand.

"_You are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen  
Dancing queen, feel the beat from the tambourine  
You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life  
See that girl, watch that scene, dig in the dancing queen." _

The music played loudly for both of them, and yet, no other ears but theirs could hear that song. Ariel unknowingly started to hum softly to the beat, as Eric twirled her around on the sand. Eric's own soft hum started, though he would say it wasn't nearly as melodic as his wife's, if one were to hear it they would say it was perfect in harmony.

* * *

**Aww, now that was cute. I thought after how much intensity that's been going through you'd need some fluff to cheer ya'll (oh no, Emily's rubbing off on me! I said '_ya'll' _!!) up. But next chapter Ariel explains...while Harmony complains. Yay! Can't wait! **

**I might post it tonight actually...no, scratch that I WILL post it tonight so you don't kill yourselves with the knowledge that Harmony....well, you'll see.**


	32. Chapter 32

"Harmony, sweetheart, how do you feel?" Ariel asked gently around noon as Harmony finally woke up. The girl winced deeply but managed to sit up, while Ariel worried over her.

"I'm fine. Better than fine, so great I could---" Harmony's sentence broke off as she started coughing. Ariel propped her daughter up, and finally the girl stopped coughing, and she exhaustedly fell back against her pillows as her forehead was filled with sweat. "Like I said, totally fine." Harmony said weakly to her Mother's frown as she pressed the back of her hand to her daughter's cheek. She was burning up. Sighing, Ariel grabbed a cool cloth and spread it across Harmony's face.

"Your grandfather sends his love." Ariel said as a side note, noticing how Harmony's face brightened a little at the sound of her grandfather.

"Is he mad about...what happened?" Harmony asked softly, as Ariel's laugh could be heard. Oh, yes, her father was mad. That was a good joke. He'd been more worried and confused as to what happened...but Ariel had explained everything, from the little sailing ride she took with Eric this morning, to him so he was up to date.

"Honey, he was more worried as to what happened to you. Last time he saw you your head was bleeding and your arm was completely shattered." Ariel answered with another soft laugh to Harmony's sigh of relief. Ariel stuck a thermometer in her daughter's mouth before the girl could say anything more, and resumed pressing the cool cloth over the girl's face. "He wants you to go down to Atlantica, at least for a day to talk to you about your...._powers_." This caught Harmony's attention as she looked at her mother carefully.

"It's not easy for me to deal with them either." Harmony said softly shutting her eyes as she felt her mother suddenly stop using the cool cloth and set it back down on the bed as she sighed. "I wish I didn't have them. That I could just wake up and their gone....but I wake up and I'm still able to do this." Harmony said, as she balanced a flame above her hand. A simple trick, but it still pained her that she could do this and not be normal like everyone else.

"I'm sorry it's just...." Ariel said, not willing to finish the sentence. They all new the answer anyway.

"Yeah, I know." Harmony said, as she looked at the scars on her right arm, purposely avoiding Ariel's gaze which was directed at her lap. "I'm going to sketch, 'k?" Harmony said with a forced smile as Ariel gave a forced one back and nodded, kissing the top of her head and leaving the room. The minute she heard the door shut softly, she let her forced smile turn into a pained grimace and she buried her face into the pillows, mourning alone for right now.

It wasn't fair! She didn't want to be a witch; she wanted to be a teenager! Everything about being a teen was better than these powers. Her family thought she was a freak because of them! It didn't matter that they never spoke it aloud, she could see it. Behind every forced smile, behind every careful word, every excuse to get out of her room she could see it.

She knew that by now rumors must be swirling about her, and her abilities. She knew what they were saying. The princess is a slut and a freak. She did this, oh she did that. Did you hear about when she....? Oh yes, what a pity she'll never get married. Men don't like loose girls.

Loose. That word she had only used when she was trying something on and it was too big. Harmony had never used it in the sense that she was a slut. Sure she fooled around with a few guys at camp, but did she really have to agonize over her decisions every day? Did her entire life have to be dissected and pieces of it taken out of context just so some old lady could talk to her friends without sounding boring?

Now she knew what celebrities felt like. Nothing they did was private, save for inside their own house. They couldn't go to the movies without getting quite a few stares and people asking for autographs. Hypocrites, all of those people. They get the autograph and wow, their so thankful. They go back home and read a trashy gossip magazine about how that same celebrity broke up with his girlfriend, who hasn't been the same since, and now, they're not happy anymore. Their furious at that celebrity.

Didn't they ever think that it wasn't their life to control? That Harmony wasn't _their _child, or their oversized dress up doll who has no feelings whatsoever. That she was made of stone. Everything passed by her. Even from staying in her room she could hear the whispers. She wasn't theirs to control....so why did they keep trying? She had her own life to live, and underneath the dress she was just a normal teenage girl who was trying to see if her chest had grown even a _centimeter_ since she was ten. But they didn't see that. Instead they saw what they wanted to see.

Beautiful princess shows up thirteen years later and claims her birthright, but she's not the same as the baby who left them. No, this princess wore _pants_ instead of a dress, and a shirt too, like she was a boy. Her sister denounces her for the sake to keep everything better in her own family, and the girl nearly gets herself killed by running away. Then, the poor girl's parents with no other alternative lock the girl in the dungeon, to keep her safe from herself since she, you know, cut her arms. Then the girl runs away again, she comes back, and everything goes on as it is, a fairy tale. Happily ever after.

Bull. All of it, Harmony thought bitterly, burying her face deeper into the pillows as she thought some more. Happily ever after means happiness, love, joy, not anger, hate, woe. Happily ever after means that the princess/witch/small town girl helps out the villages, becoming a hero and a sense of national pride because she's so pretty and she does all this stuff for the community. Happily ever after means that the pain is all gone, nothing left of it. Happily ever after means happy.

Happy though, isn't so easily found as Harmony would know from experience. She'd wished upon a star, and guess what? For awhile she thought the star was on her side. Until she leaned over to pick herself up off the ground and the star kicked her rear so hard that she fell back down. That was her happily ever after. Once you think you're on top, something happens and everything goes wrong. Suddenly, you're not on top, and the world is just laughing at the cruel joke it's played on you.

And there's no YMCA to cheer you up, like the song says. There's no Santa to deliver you a Christmas present early. There's no fun with your best buds, 'cause their miles and miles away....and you're not there. Sure, you can remember what your old pal said....but unlike the song, that doesn't make you happy. That makes you sad because you miss your old pal, really badly. And with that in mind, there is only one conclusion that Harmony could come to as she bitterly thought it.

Freaks don't deserve happiness.


	33. Chapter 33

"I wonder...." Harmony said quietly to herself, as she snapped her fingers and her nightgown turned into a pair of jeans and an oversized sweatshirt. It was a long shot, but maybe, just maybe, he was there. And she could talk to him about this. He'd understand....right?

Slipping out of her bed, she took care to move her arm slowly so she didn't upset it, and with her right arm she pulled up her hood, making her somewhat invisible in the darkness of the night.

Now standing in her room, she thought of the place on the beach where they always met, and with high hopes in her heart, she reopened her eyes. But everything was so dark! She didn't even have to think of a flame, her body just knew, and a small heartbeat started on her hand as she started to look around with her new light. Taking her black hood down because it was starting to bother her, her heart started to sink as she realized he wasn't here.

"H-Harmony?!" A voice called, a whispered one as the girl whirled around, surprised to see John standing there, his face the epitome of shock at he took in what she was wearing...and the fact that she was here. "I haven't seen you in so long! I heard all these rumors and no one knew what was happening, and then Alec went missing and everyone said you were locked up but then he came back and you were dead but---" John cut off when he saw Harmony grin her cocky grin at him.

"Glad to see you too." She laughed as she sat down on the sand. John sat next to her, forgetting about her clothes and the rumors about her as he noticed a certain ring in her voice.

"Tell me everything that happened. I want to help you." John said with total sincerity and pleading as he looked at his best friend. Harmony sighed, letting her bare feet play with the sand as she looked up at the stars. A nostalgic smile touched her face as a memory of a young redheaded girl, and a brunette boy looked through the telescope in awe of what they were seeing.

"You're not going to believe me...but okay." Harmony finally said as she tore her gaze away from the stars and to John, willing herself not to lean over and kiss his lips as she so desperately wanted to. He's just a friend, just a really, really, really cute friend...NO! Just a friend....just a, sigh, _friend_.

Harmony gave John a maybe five minute summary of everything that had happened. By the end of it, his eyes were wider than she'd ever seen anyone's eyes go. Well, time to kiss your only friend goodbye, because now he officially thinks I'm insane, she thought to herself, sighing. Well, at least it was a good run while it lasted.

"That's....wow." John said as he was still in shock. His best friend was a witch, she'd defeated another witch, she'd been locked in jail, she'd died, and she'd done so many things in just the space of a few days. There was a silence between them as he took in all in, and she cringed, knowing that the next time his mouth would move it would be him saying he wouldn't be friends with a freak.

"I'm sorry." John finally said, which made Harmony look at him like he was crazy. She'd thought....well, maybe it was coming after this. Oh, that's what the 'I'm sorry' was for. Ouch.

"I'll leave now; I know you don't want to be friends with a freak." Harmony said with a forced smile, as she stood up. She didn't realize though when John took her legs out from under her with a grin as she stared at him in shock.

"Harmony, you're my only friend. I'm already thought of as a freak by anyone....so it's not like I have many choices in friends. I like hanging out with you...its fun. Your fun to talk to." Johnsaid and Harmony looked up at him with eyes that said all. The urge to kiss him was too great now...and from what he just said she wanted to kiss him so badly. Closing her eyes, she leaned in closer to the boy as he leaned in too.....and was suddenly pulled back.

Daring to look up at her captor (or captors), Harmony almost fainted from embarrassment as she realized who it was that had pulled her back.

Her parents.

* * *

**Awww! Young love...wait a sec, I can't say 'young love' because i'm still young! Hmph. Well then, aww! They were going to kiss! How cute! But then her parents pull her back! Oh crap! **

**Ever had that happen to you? Your just about to kiss that boy (or girl) that you really like...and then your parents walk in. Ouch. Well, it's never happened to me, but i can imagine it'd be really, really, embarrassing. **

**Well, next chapter you'll see what happens....or will you? *cue scary music* **

**REVIEW! That is all. Or maybe it isn't. No wait, it is. No, it's not. Anyway, i appreciate the reviews guys, they always make me happy to read! :D Thanks alot! And you know the drill, but i'll do it again. Constructive critiscim is always welcome, and i know that my spelling is a little off at times (which annoys me because i don't realize it until AFTER i publish it, grr) so bear with it. Or is it, bare with it? I don't know, too many words that sound alike. **

**Like sea, and see. Who the hell came up with that idea?! To have two words that sound alike, but are spelled different?! Are you just trying to mess with our minds?! Or maybe it's just my mind...hm, i'll have to look into that. **

**Okay so you know what to do, so do it. And by that i mean Review. Like, now. **


	34. Chapter 34

"Harmony!" Ariel's exclamation rang out as she looked at her daughter, wide eyed. The girl winced from her mother's grip on her arm, and her father's grip on her other upper arm as she relinquished the flame she had in her hand, seeing as how her parents had a lantern.

"What are you doing out this late?! And with a boy?!" Eric asked as his anger started to rise. He looked up a moment to shoot a look at the boy, but...the boy was gone. Damn, he must have run when they nabbed her.

"Technically, you're out late with each other right now so you can't really say anything." Harmony retorted back, her cheeks still flaming no matter how hard she tried to make them stop. Her **parents** had just caught her almost kissing!

"That's different." Ariel answered, controlling her voice so it wasn't as sharp. First her daughter sneaks out, and then they catching almost kissing a boy! And what was she _wearing_?!

"I don't see how. _You're_ out late at night; _you're_ with each other, there's no difference." Harmony complained as she was dragged across the sand. Her blue eyes held fury as she looked up at her parents who were just as furious.

"We're both adults, _and _your parents, that's the difference. Besides, it's past your curfew. You shouldn't even be out at this time." Eric answered as he breathed out to keep himself calm.

"I'm a freak, I wanted to cool off and be normal for awhile." Harmony answered quietly, her anger cooling off inside her as she admitted the truth of what she thought of herself to her parents. They didn't stop dragging her along, they didn't offer any words of solace to soothe her, and they didn't even look at her. Their gazes were focused on the ground, as everyone knew that there was truth to her sentence.

After what happened to Amaranth....Ariel couldn't even hide it anymore. She'd been furious at Eric for saying such things...but when she _saw_ what Harmony was capable of with her powers...she felt like an awful mother for thinking it....but she couldn't hide that fact any longer. She loved her daughter to the extreme...but that part of her daughter she just didn't understand.

"Oh." Harmony whispered as she realized her parents silence was their answer. It's one thing to _think_ that your parent's think that you're a freak...it's another to actually know. And knowing hurts. A lot. "You know, I think I'm going to stay out here a little longer." Harmony said, and before her parents could do a thing, she yanked her arm away from her Mother's tight grasp and started to run.

"Harmony!" Ariel cried out, but her daughter was long gone. The girl was gone though, gone into the dark night. Ariel closed her eyes a moment, and just listened to the soft waves, her heart breaking as she realized she'd done it again.

"No! It's not fair." Harmony called out angrily. Tears welled in her eyes, as she threw rocks at the sea. She collapsed onto her knees only moments later as sobs ripped from her chest from the pain. She only had to think of her scissors before they were back in her grasp. Pushing the sweatshirt sleeve up with her other fingers, she pressed the blade against her arm in different places at least five times. Her tears fell onto the now open cuts, making them hurt like hell...but she didn't care as she kept crying and cutting. Finally, she just dropped the scissor blade and sobbed as her blood ran from her arm and onto the sand, staining it. She needed to get away, just go. Now. She had to go away from this place. She had to leave. She needed to find solace, wherever that might be.

She didn't even realize she was on a Ferris Wheel until she looked up.

Her magic had gotten stronger since she'd defeated Amaranth, she'd just felt it, and this proved it. But she wasn't caring about that right now; she just wiped her tears off with the back of her palm as she looked out, over the twinkling lights and laughter of the fair. Taking a few shaky calming breaths, she pulled her hood up around her as she realized it had already snowed here in Nebraska. Plus she didn't want anyone to notice the bandage on her head that held all of her ten stitches in place, or her bright red hair. When she looked at her arm, she saw that her cuts had stopped bleeding, but were awful looking. She could care less. She just push her sleeve down and looked out at the view.

She exited the ride easily when the time came, the Carnie not caring if he'd seen her go on or not. He didn't even notice that there was no one in her car but her as he rushed a group of loud teenagers into it.

Harmony walked around the Fairgrounds aimlessly, until she found herself at the indoor animal exhibit. If the Ferris Wheel had always been her favorite ride, this had always been her favorite part. She had so many memories of this place....so many memories.

Biting her lip, she walked around looking at the caged animals with sorrow in her eyes for them. Oh did she know the feeling, being trapped. Trapped as who she was, and what she couldn't change. She now knew why the caged bird sang its sad song. This place had once held joy and knowledge for her...now it held only pain and remembrance.

Walking out of the building quickly, Harmony was bit by a cold blast of wind hitting her face as she stepped outside. Shivering in the cold weather, she pulled her sweatshirt closer around her body to keep warm. Keeping her head low, she walked to behind a Port-a-Potty and thought of her room back in the palace, with the warm sheets and the always soft pillows and mattress.

She was there in just moments, and she realized that she was in her nightgown again. Shaking her head, she just lay down on her pillow and pulled the covers up to her chin.

As she started to fall asleep, her mind started to drift in and out of memories, remembering how cold she'd felt when she was locked in that dungeon. How her bloody arms were her pillow and the cold stone floor her mattress. Then her mind went to the memory of her parents stony silence when she said she was a freak, and how she'd come to realize that that was actually what they thought of her.

A single tear fell down her face then....and her broken sobs soon followed.

* * *

**Well, that just made me sad. Did it make you sad? She almost kisses the boy she has a crush on, and her parents interuppt. She finds out that they think she's a freak, and she starts to cut herself again. She goes to the fair....but everything just holds too many memories for her. And when she goes back home she starts to cry, knowing that she's a freak. Sigh, isn't that sad?**

**Percabethrox17, i know that song is awesome for this fic, but i'm saving it till the very end, because....you'll see. :D Suspenseful. **

**Thanks to all that have reviewed (Misty, MermaidRaven, Daydreamer747), and sorry Jas, no fluff in this chapter, only tears. Sorry, *sniffle*. **

**Review to all who haven't, and everyone that has keep on because it makes me smile. :D Alot. :DDDD **

**And you should also reveiw because if you don't i won't ever post again. **

**Yeah, like that'll ever happen, right? *laughs at self* **


	35. Chapter 35

"Oh thank god." Ariel's relief was apparent as she let out a breath she'd been holding in when she opened the door of Harmony's room...and saw the girl sleeping. She'd been so worried! They'd checked the beach, but she hadn't been there at all. Well, at least she'd gotten back to the palace and was sleeping in a place Ariel could know that she was safe.

"Where do you think she went?" Eric asked his wife as he leaned against the door frame of his daughter's room. He was trying, really, he was. He was trying to push past society rules and accept his daughter for who she was....but it was hard when she was putting such a strain on his marriage.

"Who knows?" Ariel asked him back as she brushed the tears off of Harmony's face. She didn't want to feel like this about her daughter....no parent should. She wanted to just love unconditionally every part of her daughter, as she did Melody....but it was so hard when she knew her daughter was a witch.

"How did you sleep Harmony?" Ariel asked cautiously the next morning at breakfast. She wanted to at least move on from the night before, talk to her daughter, try to be a mother....if it was even possible at a time like this.

"Just had nightmares, like usual." Harmony said, as she blinked back her exhaustion. She was about to collapse, and she knew it. She knew that she was running a high fever, she could feel it. But she was going to be strong and not show it.

"Nightmares?! That's awful." Ariel murmured as she placed a gentle hand on the girl's arm. Harmony flinched at her touch, shooting her a hard look. Ariel sighed and took her hand off of her daughter's arm, hoping that breakfast couldn't get any worse than this.

"Yeah well, when you're a _freak_ it doesn't matter." Harmony said bitterly, as Melody looked from her parents to Harmony. Something must have happened last night....something big. What had she missed?

"Harmony---" Eric tried to break in, but Harmony only gave him a hard, bitter smile and the pain in her eyes was almost unbearable.

"I know, I know, shut up freak. I've heard it all before, don't worry, you're not the first." Harmony said with a bitter laugh as she got up from her chair, a bit dizzily before regaining her balance.

"Harmony stop this. You're sick." Ariel said as she too got up to try to at least balance Harmony. The girl just let out an angered breath and shook her head at Ariel, Eric, and even Melody.

"Fuck this shit, I'm going." Harmony said angrily, stalking off to the direction of the beach. If Ariel and Eric were even the least bit surprised by this, they didn't show it as they both sighed and put on forced smiles for Melody.

"What's wrong with her?" Melody asked with a mouthful of food. Ariel only sighed and shook her head at the direction Harmony had stalked off. Great, another screw up on her part. She shouldn't even be a parent if that's all she did.

"She's just....dealing with everything." Eric explained quietly and calmly, though on the inside he was more confused. The girl was so....strange. Though, this time she had a point. They'd screwed up....again.

"Want me to go talk to her?" Melody wondered, knowing that her parents wanted to send her as a spy, like they usually did. Talk to Harmony, see what was wrong, tell her parents, and then everything is fixed and they can be a perfect family again....hopefully.

"Please." Ariel's soft request made Melody understand that she didn't have a choice, as she got up and started after her sister. Ariel put her hand in Eric's as they both sighed, thinking the same thoughts.

They were the biggest screw ups in the entire history of the world.

* * *

**tired...it's 5:00 in the morning...sleepy time now....review...bye**


	36. Chapter 36

"Mom and Dad are worried. They want you to go back inside to rest." A soft voice behind Harmony said. The girl only looked back at Melody a moment before sighing and turning her gaze back on the sea.

"I know their worried and I know their sorry....but I don't know." Harmony's soft whispered voice said as she bent down and picked up a rock. Letting her fingers curl over the smooth surface, as skipped it across the sea, watching as the ripples slowly faded away in the calm water.

"Don't know what?" Melody's voice wondered in an equally soft voice as she watched her sister skip another rock across the sea.

"Everything." Harmony whispered as she straightened up and stared at the blue green sea. "I don't know who I am, I don't understand why I have these powers, and I can't help but wonder about the future." The girl's voice was so soft that Melody could barely hear her answer.

"You should go back to the palace." Melody finally said after a few minutes, letting her sister's words sink in. "You're sick." Harmony gave a soft sigh as she let her bare feet sink into the sand as the wind whipped around her.

She knew that with this weather it wouldn't be long before snow came....and she really shouldn't be out just wearing a thin dress that was more meant for the summer. She could care less. She let the icy wind prickle her bare skin as she walked closer to the water, but didn't dare go into it. The waves crashed against the shore angrily, though Harmony was calm, far calmer than she'd been in days. Melody tentatively reached out a hand to touch her sister's shoulder....but the girl turned just a second before, suddenly pulled out of her reverie as she nodded at her sister.

"Yeah, sure." Harmony said as she turned to go back to the palace. The wind was calling to her, begging her to join in its song....but she was stronger than that. She wasn't going to act more like a freak than she already was.

"Harmony." Ariel's relieved voice said as she saw her daughter walk back into the palace, with a cool air that just hung over her. The girl barely acknowledged her mother though, as she just climbed up the steps two at a time to go back to sleep. Maybe sleep would take her away from this nightmare, if only for awhile.

Sighing as she watched Harmony walk back to her room, Ariel shook her head and went after her daughter. When she opened the door of Harmony's room softly, the girl didn't even look up from sketching. She just continued on, not caring who'd just entered her room.

"May I see?" Ariel's soft voice asked, and Harmony pointedly looked up at her, and then to the ceiling with her eyes, a way of saying she wasn't going to talk to her mother right now. Ariel sighed, tucking her legs behind her as she knew this was going to take awhile. Well, she had awhile. She was going to get through to Harmony, no matter what.

"When I was your age I was just as lost, you know. Music had been banned from the kingdom, and my father was so distant from me and my sisters. Everything we did with him was formal, and we were kept on a tight schedule with the same day to day routine by our governess, Marina. I didn't understand why music was banned from the kingdom, I didn't know why our father was so distant....everything just didn't make sense. I think that was around the time I started to cut myself...and it lasted for two years." Ariel said as Harmony looked up at her and snorted, shaking her head from both sides before looking up at her mother.

"Really? So, your family thought you were a freak, you were locked in a dungeon, and you belonged to two worlds? Yeah, I bet you were real confused." Harmony snorted again, as she rubbed her fingers across the page to mix in the pastel colors.

"We don't think you're a freak Harmony." Ariel said softly, but she knew her daughter wouldn't be fooled. And the girl wasn't. She just snorted again, flipping her sketch book shut as she put it on her nightstand and shook her head, eyes narrowed at her mother.

"Say 'I don't think Harmony is a freak because she's a witch.' Say that to me while looking in my eyes and then I'll believe you." Harmony said to her mother as her anger started to rise. Easy Kat, her mind told her, using her old name like usual. Don't upset yourself too much, you're still sick.

"I don't think Harmony is a freak because she's a---a....um....different." Ariel said with a hopeful smile as she looked at her daughter's eyes. The girl wasn't fooled. She just adjusted herself into the sheets and rested her head on the pillow, as she closed her eyes.

"Yeah, I thought so." Harmony's bitter laugh rang out, and then she was asleep. She didn't even bother to talk to her mother this time; she knew her thoughts. She'd tried listening....she'd tried talking....she'd tried forgiving....she'd tried even being the 'perfect daughter'....looks like she just wasn't going to ever be accepted for who she was, even by her own fucking family. And even if she didn't show it, it hurt. Even if she didn't say it aloud, it hurt. But she tucked those feelings away in her mind, so she could at least numb the pain for what she was.

A few days ago being a witch was great, everything she'd ever dreamed. Yeah, well, her powers had cost her family, almost Alec's life, almost her own life---_twice_, and the one thing she'd never be able to get back.

She'd lost any chance at being a normal angst ridden teenager.

* * *

**Alright, so i'll definitely post another chapter tonight, but i just wanted to touch on a few things.**

**Misty: You asked how do you become an author, the answer...i don't know. For me it was that I would read a story, or watch a movie, and an idea would slowly start to form in my head about that. My idea's started to drive me crazy though, and at the begining of 8th grade finally I just grabbed a computer and decided to write it out. And thus, that's how i became an author. I hope this helps, because it's the best explanation i can give. :( sorry i'm not much help. **

**Also Percabethrox17: That's exactly what happened to me, when i started this story. I read a fanfiction on how the daughter of Aurora and Philip created by Walt Disney came to them and in my opinion, it wasn't a very good story. But i got to thinking, what if the girl was a normal teen living in America....and she's suddenly pulled out of her world and she's the daughter of Ariel and Eric. I got to thinking, what would that feel like? How would she be able to deal with that? Would it be a smooth acceptance and transition...or would she have actual feelings like a normal girl. I started writing...and then the story just flowed out. I don't mind if you have a story smiliar to mine; actually, i would be really happy to see what yours is like! :D I don't even mind if you use Harmony in your story, or John, or Ryan. All i want is the chance that you'd publish it so that i could read your story. Promise, i'm not going to be mad and say 'NO! YOU CAN"T USE IT! IT"S MINE!' Promise! :D**

**Alright, now with that said, review...yadda yadda yadda. Oh, Romeo Raii announcement! **

**If anyone knows a boy, who was at the coy tower in san fransisco in spring break, and had a bunch of teenage girls giggling over him, please send tell him to go to facebook and look up the group 'The Never Ending Quest to Find Romeo Raii' and see if that's his picture, because we really want to find Romeo Raii (the name we came up with for him), though the possibilites are very low. Please and thanks!**


	37. Chapter 37

"Mom and Dad said that since you're not sick, you should go to Atlantica today to talk to grandfather about your powers. And they said I should come with you, since I know the way and all." Melody said to her sister with a hoping smile, and Harmony sighed, digging her fingers into the sand more.

The minute she'd finished her breakfast, she'd jumped from the table and gone out here to the beach, to think. But maybe talking to her grandfather about her powers would at least get her mind of everything that had been happening....if he wasn't too distracted by her head bandage and her cast.

"Yeah, sure." Harmony said, closing her eyes a moment. It was only a simple word she had to think, only one word and then she could feel herself under the water. Sighing, she went back up to the surface to find a shocked looking Melody there. Great, her freak show already started. "Well? Are you coming?" Harmony wondered, as Melody shook off what she'd just seen and jumped into the ice cold water. She only had to open her locket to transform her legs into a tail...and she almost laughed at how she felt with a tail, in water.

"Atlantica is this way." Melody said brightly, knowing her how to get to her grandfather's castle like the back of her hand. She'd been doing it since she was twelve, so it wasn't like it was anything that out of the ordinary.

"Yeah. I guess." Harmony said softly, following her sister. She stuck to a slow pace, as there was a silence between the girls that would not be broken easily. As Melody kept swimming on towards Atlantica....Harmony started to get a bit sidetracked and....nervous.

What if the kids down here thought she was a freak because she was a witch? Well, who cares, they didn't matter anyway. Then...why did she have that feeling that told her that she was so _shallow_ and that on the inside it did matter to her whether they would still accept her or not. When they were right outside Atlantica, literally three feet from entering the town that came before the palace.....Harmony lost her nerve and stopped. Melody didn't notice that though, since Harmony was so quiet about it, and she kept swimming forward to her grandfather's castle.

Taking a few deep breaths, Harmony tried to calm herself down enough so that she could at least enter Atlantica. She couldn't. They all probably thought she was a freak down here too...really, she wouldn't blame them. She was a damn _witch_. Sighing, Harmony swam to what looked like....kelp? The only time she'd ever seen kelp was on SpongeBob! And that had been just a few measly strands! This looked as though it was an entire forest!

Shaking her red hair, Harmony looked at her cast a moment to see if it was holding up in the water. A normal cast would by now have been ruined by how much water she was in....but the night before Harmony had secretly gone to the beach....and she'd been scared that her cast would get wet and then she'd be in trouble. Somehow, she had placed a spell on her cast, and head bandage to make them waterproof, although she had no idea how she knew the spell or why it just came to her so quickly. Whatever.

Swimming through the forest of kelp, though it was thick and hard to see through. God did she wish for some way to just make the kelp separate so that she could swim right through. She swam more towards the bottom of the kelp forest, so that she could actually see somewhat....until she got to a wall....that had been blown apart. Her brows furrowed for a moment, before she shrugged and swam through it anyway.

Inside it was like a cavern of sorts...except huger. It tinted more purple on the inside, light somehow reflecting off the spirals that twisted and turned all throughout this place. Harmony's eyes kept a fair look out for this, her eyes shifting back and forth, expecting herself to be caught and dragged somewhere any moment. But...she wasn't. So she kept swimming, through the spirals, in and out, until she reached the very end of this thing. But...strangely enough...it looked as though a rock slide had occurred here.

Giant rocks covered the entrance of this place, and Harmony got near one of the big rocks, trying to move it out of the way before realizing that she wasn't strong enough. Well, maybe she could say a spell or something. But what spell did her mind know? Her tongue seemed to know.

"Sdwede squzew huerete youteza."

Harmony said, though her mind had no recollection of ever memorizing a spell like this. Suddenly, the rocks started to shift, groaning from the years they'd spent in their spot. A wide eyed Harmony watched this as the rocks moved to two sides, forming a path way for her....and then she could just swim in.

With her heart beating nervously, Harmony swam in....to find this place a mess. Maracas were just tossed on the ground randomly, as if the people who had been in here before had left in a hurry. Streamers also filled the ground, as though this had once been a party everything was overgrown with vines and weeds.

Cautious as always, Harmony swam to what looked like a stage....and she kneeled down to run her fingers over....a saxophone? But why....? A real music lover wouldn't have just tossed this onto the ground without care...something must have happened here. Looking around, Harmony saw it on the stage.

A piano, a set of conga drums, and what looked like a sort of base guitar were also on the stage, all on the ground as if this was a music graveyard. Well, it certainly felt like a graveyard, with the air so tense around this place...although Harmony couldn't find a reason why.

Swimming softly over to the piano, Harmony bit her lip as her eyes looked shiftily around. No one seemed to be here....what was the harm in one song? Letting her fingers dance across the keys, Harmony felt herself engulfed into the music suddenly, everything disappearing but her and the piano. And with it, so did her nervousness about her own voice.

"_I'm...infected  
I'm infected  
by my genetics."_

Harmony's voice sighed, as she kept on with her song, letting her fingers still dance across the keys.

_And I don't think that I can be fixed  
No, I don't think that I can be fixed  
Tell me why, oh why are my genetics such a bitch?__**Mother**__ can you hear me?  
Thanks for the mermaid blood!  
Now I'm just a freak  
Part of a big show  
That's what is expected when you are infected_

It's these damn genetics  
Damn my stupid blood!

_How much of its genetics?  
How much of it is fate?  
How much of it __**depends**__ on the choices that we make?  
Is heredity the corporate, 'cause stop it  
or am I a slave?_

I'm infected by my genetics  
What hope has a girl who is a witch?  
My dream of a life past these powers  
It really makes no difference  
'Cause I know that I'll never be fixed  
Tell me why, oh why are my genetics such a bitch?

Oh, I want to be normal  
Normal

I should just go _**die**_. I'll never be normal again; I'll always be a freak show." Harmony said bitterly, as she cracked on the word freak and started to sob. Putting both her arms up, she used the piano as her resting spot, as she buried her face into her arms and cried.

"You're not a freak."

* * *

**Wow, perfect song, i know! Actually, i know this will dissapoint you Percabethrox17, but i didn't use an original song :( I can't write a song, sorry. I can mess around with a song's lyrics, but i can't write one. So, the song here is in the movie Repo! The Genetic Opera, sung by the character Shiloh Wallace, i don't own it whatsoever. If you haven't seen the movie Repo! The Genetic Opera than i urge you to go see it. It's a rock opera movie, and like the guy said in the special features 'it's not your parents opera.' It's a really great movie, so i urge you to go rent it from wherever soon. Trust me, you will not be dissapointed. **

**Alright, so onto Harmony....wow just said that she wasn't a freak?! And Ariel and Eric...how is it going for them? Dealing with Harmony as a witch? I know Ariel had a small part in the last chapter, but it really didn't get to show her feelings. Next chapter though! :D But sorry, i'm going to post next chapter tomorrow, as it is already 4:45 here in Miami and i'm extremely tired from soccer practice :( sorry. **

**So, review, tell me what you think, and i'll be trying to end the story soon, but you have to be paitient with me, alright? Sometimes i have writers block and it takes me awhile of writing to go with the idea i really like. **

**Luv u all! **

**Converse r Life**


	38. Chapter 38

Whirling around to see who said that, Harmony saw...her grandfather? But how had he known where she was? Or, why was he here?! Shaking out her red hair, her face started to turn as red as her hair at the thought that he had heard her. Maybe he hadn't. Maybe he just came when she said that last sentence.

"What did you hear?" Harmony asked as her grandfather shrugged, keeping a cool exterior towards the outside at his granddaughter's words. Harmony's face was pure red, as her blue eyes were embarrassed that he had heard her singing. She should have known this place wasn't safe. She should have known.

"Enough." Triton answered, looking thoughtful at what Harmony had just said. She wasn't a freak, no, that wasn't right. She was different, she was special, she was even unique, but not a freak. "You're not a freak Harmony." Triton finally said, and the blush from his granddaughter's cheeks faded as her eyes filled with something that could only be described as a crystal fire.

"Yes, I am." Harmony answered firmly, her fingers still dancing softly across the piano keys at the thought of it. "Even my parents know it. I'm a freak." Harmony's voice was soft, hurt almost, as she let that thought travel across the underground space to her grandfather's ears.

"Your parents don't think you're a freak Harmony." Triton answered his granddaughter calmly and coolly, knowing how teenagers acted. Hell, he'd raised 7 of them. "They don't understand your powers....or the responsibility that comes with them." Triton answered gently, and Harmony turned to look at him, her eyes filled with the pain that none could even imagine.

"Why me though? Why did _I_ have to be a witch? Why not Melody?" Harmony answered her voice soft and hurt as she thought of it. Amaranth had tricked her into thinking that she had chosen Harmony....but she hadn't. So then why was she the one pegged with this infection? Why did she have to be the odd one out?

"You were born with your powers Harmony; it's something that you've always had. You can't choose not to be a witch; it's in your blood." Triton said in a still gentle tone to his oldest granddaughter, but the girl only gave a soft, hurt sigh as she looked back up at her grandfather, a bitter laugh rising from her throat.

"A few months ago my biggest fear was telling my parents that I was failing two classes, and I was getting low grades in my other ones. Now my biggest fear is accidently killing someone because I can't control my damn powers." Harmony said bitterly, as she sunk on the ground and put her chin in her arms. "Life sucks." Harmony said bitterly, as her grandfather chuckled. She looked up and he had a sad, almost distant expression on his face which made her furrow her brows.

"I can attest to that." Triton said sadly, shaking his old head. "After your grandmother was killed....I couldn't remember happiness. I spent ten years living in darkness, putting up an act that everything was fine. But it wasn't, and the sad part is that I knew that, and yet, I still didn't do a thing." Triton said with a sigh, before looking up at his oldest granddaughter with a phantom smile on his lips.

"Harmony, you may never know why some things happen to you, but you do know that they did; now you have to take matters into your own hands, and find a solution to the problem, whatever that solution may be. Don't do what I did. Don't spend years in darkness, depressed, thinking about 'what ifs'. I lost ten years of my life, and ten precious years of my daughter's lives, thinking that....and now as an old man, I regret it whole heartedly." Triton said, as he swam closer to Harmony, who was taking all this in. Placing a hand on her small shoulder, Triton sadly looked into her blue eyes.

"Harmony, you're a smart girl, I know you can find a way to be happy, with _both_ worlds." Triton said softly, as Harmony watched him swim away, leaving her to her own thoughts.

How could she be happy with two worlds though? She'd tried deciding...but that hadn't really worked out. So what did she do now? Well, she could try to see what world she wanted most.

She missed her friends in Nebraska, all of them. She missed her family, her mom, her dad, and even her older brother. How many times he'd tortured her when they were younger, she'd never know...but he had always been there for her. He was always there, grabbing the back of her shirt, and pulling her back before she fell.....always.

Then there was this world. Her real parents, whom she knew loved her, no matter how many screw ups they'd done. And Melody, her real twin sister....who had been jealous of her and made many mistakes....but who hadn't? Plus she knew that her real family was trying hard to make up for what they'd done...

So in the end, what should she choose? Her princess life...or her normal girl life? The glamour and glitz....or the small town girl? Either way, Triton was right. She'd been born with her powers, there was no way that she could get rid of them. Oh why did life have to be so damn hard! Between divorces, deaths---wait. That's it.

Harmony's face lit up as she realized it. It was there all along! How could she haven't seen it by now! Oh this was the perfect solution! Of course, it was the only one she'd be happy with! It was the best ever! For the first time in what seemed like forever, a genuine smile crossed Harmony's face, as she realized what world she wanted.

Both.

* * *

**Yay! I think i'm going to be** **able to** **finish up this story tongight! Woohoo! When the ending comes, i'll see with you guys about another sequel to this sequel, but that's in awhile. **

**Ha ha! I know if i stopped writing right there, all of you would kill me. So i'm not, instead, i'm going to try and finish up this story for you guys....and for me. Yay! I've been thinking of this ending for weeks! **

**Okay, so, let me answer you Jas: Most of the story's i write, are on my laptop, not nearly finished because with every story but the ones i've posted....i write when the mood hits me. I might add a few sentences to that story, and then i won't touch it for another month. That's just how i write them. Fanfiction gives me the incentive to add to this story, and the same with Just a Sonata Away because i like posting up the new chapters and reading reviews. But without Fanfiction though...'Broken Waltz' wouldn't even BE written down yet because i would be on page ten of 'Just a Sonata Away'. :D**

**REVIEW this chapter, and i'm hoping you don't know what Harmony has chosen, but if you figured it out by my little clues, than shhh, keep it to yourself! Don't ruin it for the others! **


	39. Chapter 39

"Mom! Dad! Mom! Dad! Mo---ow." Harmony winced as she ran into someone, like always. Shaking her head, she blearily looked up from the ground to see her parents trying to hide smiles. Ignoring the hand her mother had out to help her up, Harmony quickly got off the ground, reaching for her inhaler in her jeans pocket as she pressed it onto her lips to get a second wind.

"Where's your sister?" Ariel asked as worry overtook her amusement. Why had Harmony been yelling? And was she talking to them now....? Had something happened to Melody?!

"Still in Atlantica---" Harmony started to explain but she was cut off by her father.

"You were supposed to stick together." Eric said calmly, willing himself to get angry now. The fact that Harmony was actually talking to them must mean something....but what?

"Yeah well, I got distracted and---wait, never mind about that! Gr, I need to tell you something really important---" Harmony was again cut off by her one of her parents, who was more worried than angry this time.

"Did something happen to your sister?!" Ariel asked, her heart already beating fast as she started to panic. She could already picture it, Melody swimming and getting hurt somehow. She could already see her daughter bleeding---

"Huh? Her, no, at least, I don't think so. She's probably just messing around in Atlantica right now. But I need to tell your guys something and it's really important 'cause it's about Nebraska and this world and---" Harmony was once again cut off by her mother, who now realized what she was wearing...and how she looked.

"Harmony, what are you wearing? Oh look at you, you're filthy! Go and take a bath, and then we'll talk, alright?" Ariel said, pushing Harmony along. The girl gave an impatient sigh as she whirled around to face her parents, fire in her eyes.

"Listen to me for god's fucking sake!" She finally growled out, making both her parents stop in their tracks, and start to pale at her language. Seeing as how they wouldn't be able to make their daughter do anything without listening to what she had to say first, they motioned for her to follow them to the study..

"What Harmony?" Ariel sighed, tentatively brushing back a tendril of her daughter's now out of control hair. The girl didn't flinch this time, she just let her mother be a mother and she started to talk.

"Okay, so I figured out a way for me to live in both worlds, so that I can finally actually have a life and be happy." Her parents raised their brows at this, looking to each other with tension apparent on their faces as Harmony continued. "I'll live like a divorced kid." Harmony said triumphantly, her face glowing as she had come to the conclusion, all by herself.

"Divorced kid?" Eric questioned, drawing out the words slowly so that they could try to make sense in his mind. Nope. Not even a little. Divorce was so rare though! It happened....but it wasn't often that he heard of a couple getting a divorce.

"Yeah. Weekends and Holiday's I spend here, and weekdays I spend with my adoptive family." Harmony said, excitement ringing throughout her words as she noticed the apprehension built on both her parents faces at the thought of it. Sighing, she leaned back on the couch and looked at both of them with pleading and hurt in her eyes.

"We can work out more evenly split times with me going back and forth between worlds....please, please, just let me do this. It's the only way I can think of me being happy....and I want to be happy again. I don't want to feel pain anymore, I don't want to cut myself....I want to live in both my worlds, with both my families. Please."

Harmony said, tears glistening in her eyes as her heart started to sink at the thought of it. They weren't going to green light her idea. She didn't want to be emo anymore...she didn't want to cry herself to sleep. She didn't want to live in just one world, when she knew there was another world that she belonged to, with a family that missed her. She wanted both worlds.

"Honey, don't cry." Ariel murmured, as she wrapped her arms around Harmony, her mind spinning with the idea of only seeing her daughter selectively, instead of whenever she wanted to. "We want you to be happy Harmony but....." Ariel didn't know how to finish that sentence, but Eric picked it up for her anyway.

"What your mother is trying to say is that, we love you and your happiness is important to us....but we just don't know about you going in between worlds." Eric filled in, as he felt his heart....sinking? If Harmony left them for good....he knew that would be awful....but only seeing her selectively was also awful. She might be a witch...but she was still his daughter.

"Go and take a bath, alright? Let your father and I talk about this alone for a bit." Ariel said, kissing her daughter's bright red hair as the girl sniffled and nodded, running out of the room without a glance behind her.

"What are we going to _do _Eric?" Ariel wondered, sighing as she leaned into her husband on the couch, letting her head rest against his chest. Eric grimaced at the thought of it; what _were_ they going to do?

"Well....we want her to be happy, right?" Feeling Ariel nod against his chest, Eric continued, as he sighed and closed his eyes, knowing that this would be hard to say. "Then why don't we let her do this?" Eric's soft voice said, as Ariel's eyes went wide and she lifted herself off of his chest, staring straight into his crystal blue eyes.

"Eric, that's impossible. I lost her _three_ times already, I refuse to lose her anymore." Ariel said in a firm voice, as Eric sighed, taking her hand into his as he intertwined them.

"Darling, she's unhappy here. I'm afraid that if we say no to her...what that might make her do to herself. I really believe that that using her powers to go in between worlds might be the best and only option, at least for right now. Let her live in both worlds with her real family, and her adoptive family." Eric said, and Ariel sighed, grimacing at the thought of what she was about to say, but she knew she had to. Taking in a deep breath, she answered her husband.

"I don't want that to happen.....but your right. It's the only option for her to be happy, and I really want to see her happy. But I'm not settling for just weekends and holidays, I can tell you that." Ariel said, as she crossed her arms in front of her chest, and Eric grinned, showing his dimples.

"Well then, can you settle for my lips?" Eric mused, and within seconds his mouth was at hers, as Ariel didn't even try to push him off, she just wrapped her arms around his neck and took it in.


	40. Chapter 40

"Harmony, your father and I came to a.._.agreement_ on what you want." Ariel stated, as Harmony glumly looked up at her parents, her expression having just a little bit of hopefulness in it. Melody looked from her parents, to her sister, and then back to her parents with a confused look on, having no idea what was happening. What had she missed?

"We both think your too young to be going in between worlds---" Eric hid a smile as he saw his daughter slump in her seat, her expression deflated as if she already knew what he was going to say.

He knew it was probably tough on her, dealing with abilities that no one could understand...he'd felt that same way after his parents had died, he'd realized. At sixteen he'd been thrust onto the throne, now proclaimed rulers of the land. He'd been just a boy at sixteen, he'd barely paid attention during his study's....and then he was king.

It was just that damn storm! His parents had gone out to celebrate their anniversary, and he was supposed to go with them. But the night before it had rained, and he had gone out in the rain with Max, playing. As a result, he got sick and he wasn't allowed to go with his parents. They had wanted to call off the party, at least, for the time being...but he'd begged them to go anyway. And then there was that storm...and they both drowned. Sighing, Eric shook his head and tried to focus his daughter.

"But, we also know that you're a smart, responsible young lady, and we want you to be happy, so....you have our permission to live in between worlds, on the exception that we see you for a few hours every day. Plus weekends and holidays you spend with us. Sound fair?" Ariel asked with amusement, and Harmony's eyes grew wide as she processed the information.

"Yes! Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" Harmony practically yelled, as she saw Melody in the corner of her eye start to put two and two together. Then her mouth went open in an O, as her eyes nearly popped out of her head.

"Wait! So you won't be here all the time?" Melody asked, as her eyes started to grow hurt at the thought of it. Well, it's not like she didn't deserve this. Honestly, she'd had it coming.

"Mel, I'm sorry....but I've got to do things my way, for now. It's my only shot at being happy. You understand...right?" Harmony asked, as she pleaded with her sister to understand, and Melody slumped in her own seat, deflated herself.

"Yeah, yeah sure. I understand." Melody said quietly, as Harmony let out a relieved sigh, and jumped from the table to go to her room to grab her bookbag, and at least look through it to make sure everything was there. "I understand that I'll miss you." Melody's soft voice was only loud enough that she could hear it, but it was as though her parents had too because they sighed heavily.

Harmony only had to think of that spot on the beach, and in seconds she was there. Looking around, she sat on the sand for a moment, hoping he'd be here. And he was.

John emerged from the other side of a rock, blushing as he looked at her. How stupid he'd been, to try and kiss a princess! She'd never go for him...she'd never even liked him probably. "Hey." He said softly, as his mind berated him. He should've said 'hello' and been proper...after all, she was a princess.

"Listen...about the other night....see it was a total mistake and I didn't think anything was going to happen and I'm really sorry you got in trouble and---" John's lips were suddenly pressed against Harmony's. She pulled away after a moment, blushing, but boldly looking into his eyes.

"Don't talk so much...it distracts me from looking at your face." Harmony said, as a bigger blush crept onto her cheeks. Biting her lip, she turned her gaze to the ground, quickly disappearing back to her room so that she wouldn't have to be so embarrassed.

She'd finally done it. She'd kissed him. And it had felt....wonderful. Nothing like when she'd kissed other guys. This time it felt like fireworks were going off as their lips touch, and a warm glow had started in her stomach. She was definitely going to see him again...she didn't think after kissing him that she'd ever not want to see him again. A love sick smile spread to her lips as she thought of it, before she quickly changed into her nightgown and fantasized about him.

"Be safe, alright?" Ariel murmured, kissing Harmony's forehead and hugging her daughter tightly. The girl had her head bandage removed that morning, and her gash looked pretty healed up. It would leave a nasty scar...but it looked better than when it was bleeding.

"I will, don't worry." Harmony answered her mother, as she let go and hugged her sister tightly. She'd see her family tomorrow.....but she still felt as though she needed to hug them goodbye, at least till the next day....and after she explained everything to her adopted parents.

"Bye sis." Melody whispered as Harmony gave her a small smile and she nodded, stepping back from her family. All she had to think about was her room, her old, cozy, small, cluttered room....and then she disappeared.

She landed in the middle of her room, and her eyes slowly took it all in. Her c.d.'s, her radio, posters, her overly cluttered desk that should be used for school work, but it was really used to hold most of her books. Her desk chair that had a shirt thrown over it, as if she'd been in a haste to get out of her room the last time she'd changed in here. A small smile curled on her lips as her hand traced the bed she'd picked out, with the sheets that were still messily made.

Softly, she started singing to herself, as her voice was no more above a whisper.

"_I know what to believe in  
Two worlds, two families  
I trusted my heart  
Let fate decide  
To choose which world is right for me_

_A princess in one life  
Living within a palace filled with love  
The glamour life, by the sea_

_Just a teen girl in Nebraska though  
My childhood filled with love A cozy town, with my best buds_

_Somewhere something is calling for me  
Two worlds, one family  
I trusted my heart  
Let fate decide Both lives are now for me."_

Smiling a little to herself, Harmony softly walked over to her desk, and took a post it note off of it that had been stuck on. Her vision was blurry again, she noticed with a smile, as she pulled her old glasses back on, making her that dork. There were only two words written on the note, some words that Harmony remembered having stuck in her head for a few days, so she wrote them down to get rid of them.

Broken Waltz.

Staring at the note, Harmony realized that her journey had started that way. With one waltz with a boy, and then everything fell in place. It had been a broken waltz that had showed her what path to finally choose. Shaking her red hair, Harmony placed the note back down on her desk.

Opening the door of her room quietly as she heard voices coming from downstairs, she took in a breath as she started padding down the staircase, with a smile.

"Mom, Dad! I'm home!

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**Yay! Finally finished! And right before vacation too! YAY! Okay, so review, and tell me what you thought of this finale, and tell me if you want a sequel to this sequel, about Harmony dealing with living as a normal girl, and a princess at the same time. XD if you want me to write a sequel, a family member might die.....i'll let you think about that, though Hailstorm already said he or she wanted a sequel. **

**Alright, so it's not 3:40 in the morning here in miami...and i'm going on a week vacation tomorrow so i should probably get some sleep....right after i post these chapters up for you guys to read! **

**Thanks to all Reviewers, you guys rock. Thanks to all who read and didn't review, you guys are okay. You don't really rock, since you didn't review, but the fact that you read my story makes me happy. :D Thanks also to all my friends, for reading this and then yelling at me for not posting chapters quick enough because you wanted to read more. Really, you guys are so great (sarcasm). **

**Well, tell me if you want a sequel or not, and i'll make one....no, i'll make one anyway, just because i'm OCD like that, but if you want me to actuall POST it, than all you have to do is click on the review button and say, 'sequel!' **

**Luv ya guys! **


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